


I Got Sinning on my Mind

by Singing_Dreamer



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Bratva Oliver, F/M, olicity - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-09-30
Packaged: 2018-04-08 01:51:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 52,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4286112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Singing_Dreamer/pseuds/Singing_Dreamer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Felicity needs protection from the Triad after she does something stupid. She must strike up a deal with the Bratva to keep herself and her mother safe. She agrees to do "jobs" for them sporadically until she graduates from MIT. But there's a catch, there's always a catch. Upon her graduation she finds out that the Bratva have deemed her a liability with all the information she now knows. She is given a choice: either be killed by the organization that was supposed to protect her or marry into the Bratva to keep its secrets and herself alive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first time I've ever tried writing fanfiction so please be gentle. I'm going to try to stay on a schedule of weekly postings but no promises. I'm extremely nervous and fyi none of this is beta'd. This is all me. Flaws and all.  
> *The Italics in this are supposed to be people talking in Russian. If it's ever just one word or a short phrase it will actually be in Russian and the translation will be in the end notes. Of course I'm using Google Translate.

****Felicity had known of the Bratva all of her life. Her mother was a high end cocktail waitress in Vegas for God's sake. She’d even met some of the higher ups when she was younger and had to go to work with her mother. Her favorite had been a man by the name of Anatoly. He had found her rambles charming and had loved to give her Russian candy when he saw her. That of course had been years ago. She hadn’t seen Anatoly or any of the Bratva since she was 10. That was the age her mother would let her stay at the library instead of following her to work.Growing up in Vegas had given her a different outlook on life. While lots of people her age looked at the world through rose tinted glasses or in black and white she knew there were necessary evils in the world. The Bratva were one of them.

At the tender age of 13 Felicity knew she wanted to go to MIT. She had built her first computer at the age of 7 and had skipped two grades at the age of 11. Felicity was smart. But no matter how smart she was she could not figure out a way to get to MIT. She knew she could get in but she also knew she could not afford it. Even with financial aid it would be nearly impossible. Her dear mother tried. God did she try. She worked ridiculous shifts, stopped buying herself new clothes, and even got rid of their cable package to scrimp and save for Felicity’s dream school but it still wasn’t enough. So Felicity did something stupid. The stupidest thing she’d done in her entire life. And now she needed help. Big “necessary evil” help.

Even though she had not spoken to or seen anyone from the Bratva since she was 10, 16 year old Felicity hoped that someone would remember her and could help her out. So she swallowed her pride and went to work with her mother for a month hoping she would see someone she recognized. Telling her mother she just wanted to spend extra time with her before heading to school, Felicity stalked the casinos. She had it all planned out she just needed to see someone.

Three weeks in and she thought her hopes may never come to fruition. But then she saw him. Anatoly. It had been six years but he still looked the same. All of a sudden butterflies hit her stomach. This was a bad idea. What was she thinking?! She couldn’t do this. The Bratva would own her for life. But that was better than being dead. “Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. What do I think I’m doing! If they find out what I did they could just kill me instead of helping me!” Felicity thought as she watched Anatoly go towards her mother and kiss her cheek. Then to her horror she saw her mother point at her with a big smile on her face and wave at her to come see Anatoly. “Shit.” Felicity thought as she got up from her seat and went to where her mother was standing.

“Anatoly!” she exclaimed as she reached him for a hug.

“There’s no way this is little Felicity! What happened to the pigtails? And your brown hair? You’ve grown up маленькая птица (little bird).” Anatoly smiled as he pulled her away to look at her more closely.

“That’s what happens when you don’t see someone for over six years Anatoly! I’ll just let you both catch up!” Donna giggled as she strolled back to one of her tables.

“So  маленькая птица I hear you are headed to MIT. I always knew you could do it. You were always smarter than everyone else.” Anatoly said kindly as he steered her towards a booth so they could sit.

“Actually..” Felicity stuttered as she looked at the table, “about that…” She took a big breath and looked at Anatoly who's face morphed from kind to concerned.

_“That’s something I’d like to talk to you about Anatoly.”_ Felicity started to whisper in Russian. If he was surprised that she spoke it he hid it well as he reached for her hand on the table and squeezed letting her know she could speak.

_“I don’t know that I can go. Money is tight and unless I get a REALLY good paying job in Cambridge I don’t know that it’s a possible dream. And I mean I know there are really good paying jobs out there like strippers for example...not that i’m saying i’d be a stripper! Cause look at me. I don’t really scream stripper..or is it exotic dancer? The point is i’m not stripper material and I don’t practically want to be...I’m getting off point.”_ Felicity babbled as she again looked at the table instead of looking at Anatoly.

_“So like I said money is tight. So I tried...I mean I did… Anatoly I did something stupid.”_ Felicity whispered as tears started to form in her eyes and this time she did look at Anatoly. He looked worried but he did not try to interrupt her. So she just blurted out the rest of her story.

_“I’m not a bad person. I’ve never shoplifted or stolen anything in my life...but MIT is my dream. You know that. It’s been my dream since I learned it existed. So I decided I’d steal the money...I hacked this group...but not like a good group! And I didn’t take more than I needed! I just wanted to take enough to pay for school! That’s all I wanted! But I...I took...I took it from some really bad people Anatoly. And I’m scared they’re going to find out it was me. Because I think they’re trying to find me...I put it back as soon as I figured out they were back tracing me! And I didn’t do it at home! I did it somewhere else so if they find my IP address they’re gonna get a Starbucks but Anatoly these type of people aren’t just going to stop there. I…,”_ by this time Felicity was silently sobbing as tears streamed down her face.

_“I stole from The Triad.”_

 


	2. Chapter 1: And So It Begins (1st Job. Fall Semester. Year One.)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (1st Job. Fall Semester. Year One.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again any mistakes are my own. I try really hard to find mistakes but it's rather difficult when it's your own piece of work.
> 
> Italics when someone is talking=Russian
> 
> Any actual Russian words will be translated in the End Notes!

MIT was everything Felicity had ever hoped for. She didn’t care that she had to work in a coffee shop plus the library on campus almost everyday. She didn’t care that her roommate kept the oddest hours and that when she was there she liked to listen to heavy metal screamo music. She didn’t care that she didn’t have a car so she had to either ride the bus or walk. She didn’t care because she was were she was meant to be and for the first time in a long time she was happy.

It was unbelieveable. She got to have intellectual conversations with her classmates and her professors. There wasn’t a need to dumb herself down so she could be understood because the people here had the capacity to understand her. Like she said. Unbelievable. But what was even more unbelievable was how she got here in the first place.

If you had asked her 3 months ago when she was speaking to Anatoly if she thought that she’d get here she would’ve asked you if you were crazy...

***FLASHBACK***

After her mini melt down, Anatoly calmly held her hands and waited until she could catch her breath again.

_“Little bird what could you possibly have been thinking? You should have come to me long before you had to stoop so low. If you had come to me not seeking protection but just financial help I would have helped you in a second. **I** would have, not the Bratva, but me personally.”_

Felicity’s stomach dropped. Could he no longer help her? Had her pride been her downfall? She could feel her eyes misting over once more.

“ _Now now little bird_ ,” he whispered as he squeezed her hands, “ _I can still help you but it will be much harder. Had you come to me as a friend looking for a loan I would have given it to you willingly but you aren’t asking me for money now. At least not just money. You are also asking for protection. And that I cannot give you personally. That is something the Bratva will have to offer._ ”

“ _I don’t care about money anymore!_ ”  she whispered hoarsely. “ _MIT might as well be a mythical unicorn at this point! I just want to be safe. I just want my MOM to be safe. What I did was stupid; I know that. But I didn’t even consider my mom when I did this. She’s all I have and I’m all she has. How could I do this to her?!_ ”

“ _Little bird. Are you telling me you no longer wish to go to MIT? If the Bratva offered you and your mother protection and the chance for you to have your ‘mythical unicorn’ are you telling me you would not take it?_ ” Anatoly asked pensively.

Felicity froze. Slowly she looked Anatoly in the eye trying to read him. Protection and college? It was too good to be true. That’s what caused her to freeze. No one was that kind. Let alone the Bratva.

“ _What’s the catch?_ ” she asked slowly straightening her back.

“ _Always so smart little bird._ ” Anatoly smiled. It made her feel as though she had passed some sort of test.

“ _You are right. Protection and the money for your school would not be given freely. As to what it would cost you I do not now. Not yet. Why don’t you go and spend the afternoon with your mother and meet me here again this evening. Say 8:00? I’ll know then what it will cost._ ” He said as he swiftly got up and walked away towards the bank of elevators giving her no time to answer him.

Felicity spent the rest of her afternoon with her mother like Anatoly had told her to. She had felt as though she was going to throw up all day as she waited for the allotted time. Donna even asked her if she was feeling well at some point. But she miraculously kept it together till 8:00 rolled around.

Felicity sat in the same booth from that morning fiddling with her hands wishing she had brought some spare computer parts just so her hands had something to do.

Promptly at 8:00 Anatoly leisurely strolled in and sat across from her. Looking at his face, Felicity could not tell if he had good news, bad news, or worse news. Gosh she’d would have even taken “just OK” news. Anatoly gently grasped her hands that were still fidgeting on the table top and stilled them.

“ _Little bird. I won’t beat around the bush. I can tell how anxious you are. I have spoken to the Pakhan and he has offered a deal. A trade if you will. Please remember you can refuse._ ” Anatoly smoothly said as he slowly let go of her hands. She waited with baited breath.

He clasped his hands then straightened himself in his seat and spoke. “ _We will offer you protection and go one step further and pay for your schooling. We will place your mother in the employment of one of the casinos we own so she will always be watched. She will not know of our involvement and she must not know of yours. We will pay for your tuition including room and board. In turn you will be employed by us. We will come to you when we need your skills and you must do as we ask. No questions. It does not matter what you are doing at the moment. We are the priority. There will be eyes on you at all times for your safety and they will be discreet. This will continue until the Triad is no longer deemed a threat to your safety and until you graduate college. Once you graduate your debt to us should be considered payed._ ”

Felicity sat there stunned. This was more than she had hoped for and even worse than she had thought. To tie herself to the Bratva was something she never in her wildest dreams thought she would have to do. She had assumed she would be in their debt in some way but not like this. But it was her mom and her dream school. What was 4 years with a couple of odd jobs here and there compared with her mother’s safety and and education that would set her up for life?

She took in a deep breath and looked Anatoly in the eye and excepted.

***END FLASHBACK***

She didn’t necessarily have to have two part time jobs. She technically didn’t have to have _any_ job. The Bratva were more than happy to give her money for anything she might need. She was just afraid to give them that much more power over her. Her jobs helped her out anyway. The library was a nice quiet place to study and do school work on her downtime and the coffee shop kept her supplied in adequate amounts of caffeine.

Now, however, she was headed to the library for a different reason. She had gotten a text on the burner phone Anatoly had given her for jobs as she had walked out of her last class of the day.

All it had said was “Hayden Library. 5:00 PM. Table by the windows w/ the gift.”

So here she was walking to the library with huge butterflies in her stomach. It’s not like she didn’t know this was going to happen at some point. And it had taken longer than she had thought. She had been at MIT for a month already with no signs of the Bratva even though she knew they were holding up their side of the deal.

Her mother had called her the day after she had gone back to Vegas after helping her move in with exciting news. She had gotten a job offer at the Bellagio. It had come with a huge pay raise and offers to help her find a closer apartment or house to relocate to. Donna had been so excited that Felicity hadn’t had to fake any enthusiasm. She had barely gotten a word edgewise before her mother had told her she had to get going.

Felicity looked at her watch. “4:50 pm. Good. Ten minutes to spare.” She thought as she walked into the library and automatically walked towards the windows after she had flashed her student ID.

It was pretty obvious what table she was supposed to go to. There at the last window was a table with not only a box but two gargantuan men sitting across from it.

'Oh god. Could they be anymore obvious?' She thought as she slowly approached the table trying to ignore the not so stealthy stares of her peers.

Sliding into the seat in front of them, she didn’t say a word. If she was going to do this she wasn’t going to be intimidated. Even though she was. Like extremely so. These guys were huge! How was she not supposed to be?!

All three of them sat there in silence. As they sat there Felicity took the time to size them up. One was definitely younger than the other. Closer to her age she guessed. Probably 4-6 years older. The other man was probably about 10 years older. Oddly enough the older man looked like the kinder one. He was also the bigger of the two. His arms were humongous! He was also staring at her with a small twinkle in his eye. The younger one however, was frowning at her. And the longer they sat there in silence the harder he frowned. She dubbed him Broody McBroody-Pants in her head. And the other one she dubbed Tree-Trunk Arms.

Tree-Trunk Arms broke the silence.

“Miss Smoak it’s good to meet you.” Tree-Trunk Arms said as he extended his hand for her to shake.

Felicity cocked her head to the side as she looked at his hand and slowly reached out with her own.

“You seem to have me at a disadvantage here. You know my name but I don’t know yours. That is allowed right? Am I allowed to ask your name? I feel like it’s only fair because you probably don’t want me to call you what I’ve been calling you both in my head. Not that they’re mean names. They actually explain both of you pretty well. I mean like physically because I don’t know much about either of you. But I wouldn’t want you calling me a name that only had something to do with some physical attribute of mine. Like four-eyes. I got called that enough growing up I wouldn’t want you calling me that even in your heads. So you probably don’t want me calling you Tree-Trunk Arms and Broody McBroody-Pants in my head. And oh my Google I cannot believe I just told you that. I’m going to shut up now.” She murmured trying to hide her embarrassment with a curtain of black hair.

When neither said anything right away she looked up noticing similar looks of amusement on their faces. Tree-Trunk Arms broke the silence. Again.

“My name is John Diggle but you can just call me Digg, Miss Smoak. I’ll be your...let’s go with handler. And the broody one over here is Oliver.” Mr. Diggle said as he vaguely waved in Broody’s ugh...she meant Oliver’s direction.

“Ok. So you’re my handler. Fine whatever. Even though I don’t know what that means. What are you going to handle? Like my schedule. Cause that thing is pretty solid. There’s not much you can do with that. Actually I don’t think I want to know what you’re going to handle. The less I know the better but what about Broody..SORRY! I meant Oliver. What exactly is Oliver?” she asked as she looked Mr. Diggle in the eye.

It’s not as though she couldn’t look at Oliver but Mr. Diggle made her more comfortable. It didn’t feel like he was judging her, unlike Oliver. When Oliver looked at her it felt like he was judging her black hair and her heavy make-up. As though he knew that she wasn’t really goth...though the babbling probably covered that. He still hadn’t said a word and was still just obviously staring at her.

“Oliver is…” Diggle began to answer until Oliver himself, cut in.

“Oliver is here to use whatever information you get for us and make sure you don’t do anything stupid.” he said bluntly as he leaned forward on his forearms as he looked Felicity in the eye with a glare.

'Oh heck no! He does not get to talk to me like I’m some little worker bee or try to intimidate me just because he’s with the Bratva!' Felicity thought as she stared back gobsmacked.

She slowly straightened her back and with a glint in her eyes also leaned forward on her forearms leveling him with a glare of her own.

“Let’s get something straight here. I’m not someone you can walk all over Mr. Queen. Oh yes, I recognize you. Took me a second but your uppity face gave you away. How could it not with your face being plastered all over every trashy magazine out there. I was going to give you the courtesy of telling me yourself but looks like that’s not happening. I know that you know how good I am with a computer otherwise I wouldn’t be here and neither would you. So I’d be a little weary of who exactly you try to threaten because let me tell you right now I can make your life a living hell. You won’t be able to go anywhere without the paparazzi being able to magically find you. Or God forbid you have any non-Bratva skeletons in your closet because the paparazzi might just get a non-traceable anonymous tip. So watch yourself Oliver Queen and don’t ever underestimate me.” Felicity calmly stated as she locked eyes with the infuriating man across from her.

He stayed silent but no longer looked as though she was something he found on the bottom of his shoe. There was even a glint in his eye. If she wasn’t mistaken that new glint may have been respect. It definitely was from Mr. Diggle if the way he was silently laughing was any indication.

“I like you Miss Smoak. This will be an interesting four years.” Mr. Diggle chuckled as he pushed the mystery box that Felicity had done a good job of ignoring towards her.

“Open it Miss Smoak.” Mr. Diggle stated as he crossed his arms.

“Ok you’re gonna have to stop with the Miss Smoak business cause I keep wanting to look behind me and look for my mother. Just call me Felicity.” she mumbled as she slowly opened the box. And then she gasped.

She doesn’t know what she was expecting...maybe a bomb or a horse’s head like in the godfather but this was not it.

“Holy fucking shit! This is the fucking 2.0 Palmer Tech Glider laptop! And does this thing have fucking Linux?! Sorry I swear when I’m overly excited!” Felicity squealed as she pulled the laptop towards her and automatically turned it on.

“Yes, Anatoly said you’d need a good laptop to do our work and your school work. And apparently this is the best. At least according to Wired magazine.” Oliver stated with a raised eyebrow as Felicity stared star-struck at the laptop.

“Yup. Uh-huh. Definitely the best. And holy shit I think I’m going to cry!” Felicity whispered as her eyes literally teared up.

“Anatoly also said to tell you;  _You deserve it little bird_." Diggle said as he also pushed a file towards her.

Where he had magically pulled the file from she had no idea, but she was already opening it trying to hide the blush that bloomed on her face from being called that old nickname by someone that wasn’t Anatoly.

“He needs to stop calling me that. I swear he thinks that’s my real name. Hmmm…” Felicity hummed as she read through the file. It looked pretty simple.

She crooked an eyebrow at Mr. Diggle and Oliver and asked, “This is it? This is all you want me to do? Make this...Viktor Andropov a ghost?” It couldn’t be this simple.

Oliver is the one who answered. “We were told by our computer experts that it would take quite a couple of hours if not a couple of days to hack into every database and make him disappear but also leave no trace that anyone was in the system. Since our usual hackers are busy with another matter Anatoly recommended you.”

“Ha! Oh wait you’re serious?! No this should take me no time at all...and either your hackers are lying to you or they’re not that good.” Felicity huffed as she bent to dig through her computer bag pulling out her own custom made laptop, an external hard drive, and a couple of USB drives.

“Now usually this would take a bit longer than I’m used to but I’ve got some programs I’ve designed in the last couple of years that will make this run a lot smoother. Usually I wouldn’t need all this but I’m going to use my old computer to piggyback off a satellite and bounce my signal off so it can’t be traced back to my IP address or my school cause yeah that would suck. And while I’m at it I think I might as well run a facial recognition program to make sure his face isn’t anywhere it’s not supposed to…” Felicity started mumbling as she continued clacking away on her old laptop and plugging in her external hard drive to the new Palmer laptop and slowly started downloading all the information to an empty USB drive.

Oliver and Diggle just raised eyebrows at her as she continued on with her work. They were slightly stunned and a bit apprehensive when 20 minutes later she stunned them with a fist pump and a “сделать!”

“That’s it? You’re done? He’s out of the FBI, CIA, Interpol, and all those other databases?” Oliver asked disbelievingly.

“Yes. I said I was done. That means done. I even wiped him from ARGUS and that one took me almost a month to crack the first time I broke in. Like I said; don’t underestimate me Mr. Queen.” Felicity said coolly as she handed over the USB drive.

“Everything’s on there. I wasn’t sure if you wanted to have a copy of everything for collateral or whatever.” Felicity added as she slowly started to rise from the table.

“Now if you’ll excuse me I’ve got to get ready for my shift at the coffee shop. That’s all you needed I assume?” Felicity asked as she waited with the folder outstretched for them to take back.

A quick nod from Oliver as he took the folder back was all the confirmation she needed. Spinning on the heels of her combat boots, she turned and walked out of the library.

 **  
** “ _You’re right Diggle. This is going to be an interesting four years._ ” Oliver Queen stated as he watched Felicity Smoak walk away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> сделать (done)


	3. Chapter 2: Stalk me all you like, I still won't like you (Spring Semester, Year 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spring Semester, Year 1, MIT

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this went up kind of late! I was on a nice weekend getaway! Went wine tasting...learned I'm not a fan of wine...learned I am most definitely a fan of peach sangria however. But I'm getting off point! Here's the next chapter and again I mention that all mistakes are my own! No one looks over this but myself and I know I have to miss some things...Enjoy!

Felicity sat huddled next to the fireplace in Jitters, the coffee shop on campus, holding her steaming cup of coffee as she watched the snow fall outside.

Snow! It was still such a mysterious concept to her but she loved it. Even if it was falling in March. It just made the fact that she didn’t need to work today all that much better. Or it did until she heard a recognizable ring from her book bag.

She sighed as she reached in her bag and pulled out the burner phone. Of course today, when her classes had been cancelled and she had no work, was the day they would call.

She shouldn’t act so put out. It’s not like they ever made her do anything that took longer than an hour to pull off. She was just so comfortable and the thought of trying to walk in the snow that was starting to come down pretty hard was not an enjoyable one. She was going to wait till Mary, her across the hall neighbor and fellow co-worker, got off and bum a ride off her.

She read the text: “2:00 @ Barker Library. We’ll be at the front doors.”

She glanced outside at the snow and then at the clock on the wall that clearly read 1:30. Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen.

She didn’t usually text back. Normally she just did what the text said but she was not going to walk all the way across campus in the snow. She wouldn’t make it on time anyway! On a sunny day it would have taken her maybe 10-20 minutes to get there but in the snow? No.

She texted back: “Can’t make it in the snow. To Far w/ no car. I’m at Jitters. Just meet me here.”

They wouldn’t like it but she was not getting hypothermia for them.

Felicity waited by the fireplace and thought over the last semester working with Digg and Oliver. For one, she was finally comfortable calling them Digg and Oliver instead of Mr. Diggle and Oliver Queen. Well sometimes she just called Oliver ‘Queen’ and he in turn called her Smoak. It didn’t bother her.

Last semester had been relatively easy job wise. They came to her once a month with something just as simple as that first time. Usually almost the same thing as the first time. Once or twice she was asked to leave a fake trail for the FBI but again that was so simple it had only taken her half an hour and it had only taken her that long because Digg kept asking her about her classes. Oliver usually stayed silent during Digg’s questioning probably because he already knew how she was doing. It had taken her awhile but she had slowly noticed him here at Jitters whenever she had a shift. Which was often. She had been curious as to what could be keeping him in Cambridge and a quick look online had told her what she needed to know. Oliver was taking online business class through Harvard. Probably easier to keep an eye on her if his classes were online and easier to conduct Bratva business if the random weeks where he disappeared were any indication. He kept to himself though, which she appreciated. Didn’t mean she didn’t notice that he kept an eye on her. At first she was pissed. She wasn’t something that needed watching! But instead of letting her anger get to her she had simply worked at letting it go. It would be best to choose her battles wisely. She felt like this wouldn’t be the first or last time Oliver unknowingly pushed her buttons.

She heard the bell go off over the door and turned to notice not Digg and Oliver, but Cody.

“Oh shit!” she whispered as she threw her hood over her head and tried to make herself invisible. However, she was not quick enough.

“Lis! There you are! I knew you’d be here! I’ve been trying to get in touch with you!” Cody exclaimed as he made his way towards her.

Crap! Why was this happening now? She’d done such a good job of staying away from Cody. She’d tutored him last semester in Calculus and he had gotten some weird obsession with her. He was constantly calling her, waiting outside her classes, and inviting her to come see him play lacrosse. She’d gotten really good at screening her calls and leaving her class either 10 minutes before the class was strictly over or loitering in the building for an extra 10 minutes until she knew he was done waiting.

“Cody. I thought I told you not to call me that.” She sighed as she watched him take a seat across from her officially blocking her in and making it impossible to escape.

“Oh Lis don’t pretend like you don’t like it!” He chuckled as he leaned towards her. “If I didn’t know better I’d say you were ignoring me. But that can’t be. You’d never do that to me; would you Lis?” he softly stated as he reached for her hands.

Nope! That was enough. She’d been nice. She’d even been sly and made sure they shared no classes. No more Miss Nice Girl!

She stood abruptly not caring that she might cause a scene. Which was not likely since Jitters was relatively empty on this snowy day. “Ok Cody, it doesn’t look like you’re getting the message. I _am_ ignoring you. I _want_ you to leave me alone. Stop calling me. Stop waiting outside my classes and coming by my jobs. I don’t know if I said something that made you think this was ok but it’s not. I. want. you. to. leave. me. alone.”

Cody stood just as abruptly and grabbed her forearms. “Lis where is this coming from?! Did I do something?! Are you mad at me?! I know it’s only been a few months but I thought we had a real connection!”

“NO! And what do you mean where is this coming from?! And whatever lead you to think anything has been happening these last couple months?! We haven’t talked since you passed your final last semester! And Ow! That hurts! Let go of me!” Felicity yelped as his hold on her tightened. Then miraculously Mary was there with Nathan, her boss, who had grabbed Cody by the back of the neck and was marching him out of the coffee shop.

“Felicity are you ok? Was that the creepy lacrosse player you were telling me about? Here.” Mary said as she led Felicity to sit back in her previously vacated spot. She disappeared back behind the counter and brought Felicity back a hot chocolate, replacing her now cold latte and telling her that more caffeine was probably not a good idea.

Nathan came to check on her and promised that Cody would no longer be allowed on the premises as long as she was here. She thanked him as she turned to Mary who was asking her more questions.

“Do you want to go home? I’m sure Nathan wouldn’t mind if I left early. We’re dead anyway.” Mary asked as she looked at Felicity worriedly.

“What? No. At least not right away. I’m meeting some umm...people here in a few minutes. They need me to fix something for them but when that’s done...if you wouldn’t mind...I would like to go home.”

“No problem sweetie. I’ll just tell Nathan and you just wave me over when you’re ready to go. Is this them?” Mary asked as she waved towards the general direction of the door where Digg and Oliver had just walked through.

“Yes. That’s them. Thank so much Mary. I’m fine, I promise.” She added as she noticed Mary giving them the stink eye.

“If you say so sweetie.” she whispered as she walked away but not before she gave Digg and Oliver the universal ‘I’m watching you’ hand sign.

“What was that?” Oliver asked as he turned from giving Mary a confused look. He then noticed Felicity looked a little shaken. “Hey, are you ok?”

“I’m fine. Yup never better. Are you two cold? You both look cold. Sorry I couldn’t meet you at the library but I don’t have a car and it’s cold and snowing which is not news to either of you because you guys have snow on your heads. Also it's why I’m sitting next to the fireplace because even though I haven’t been outside in a while it’s still cold. So what’d you bring me?” Felicity blurted at them.

Digg and Oliver were not deterred but decided to drop it. For now.

Digg handed her a folder like every other time and started explaining to her. “This is a little different than usual. We need you to hack into a certain someone’s personal system. But there's a little hitch. The hitch is that he has his own it department made up of hackers who are constantly watching the system to make sure nothing ever happens. The best time for you to try to get in is when they do their change of the guard. They only do it once a day however and today’s has already passed. We’ve got a guy on the inside who’s told us tomorrow’s is set for 9:00 AM. You’ll only have maybe 5 minutes to get in and find this file.” Diggle pointed at a file name in the paperwork Felicity was perusing. “We don’t want you to delete it or tamper with it. We just need to know what they know.”

“Sounds easy enough...which is why you staring at me like that is making me nervous. What is it?” Felicity asked with a slight apprehensive look.

Oliver let out a breath. “It’s not that we don’t trust you,” he stated as he waved vaguely at himself and Digg, “We’ve seen what you can do. It’s just that other people in the organization aren’t as trusting. They won’t let you do this unsupervised.”

“Ok...I don’t understand. I mean I get what you want me to do but at 9:00 tomorrow I plan to be at home because it doesn’t look like I’m going to able to go anywhere.” Felicity said. She then pointed out at the window where the snow continued falling.

“Then one of us will be at your dorm tomorrow morning. We’ll bring the file and once you’re done we’ll leave.” Digg stated.

“Umm...no offense Digg but you’re not exactly stealthy. I mean I’m sure you actually are considering who you work for but someone is going to notice a huge hulking man in my dorm. And you’re not old enough to be my dad...I mean maybe an older brother but that’s not really gonna pass...I mean look at you! Maybe you’re adopted…” Felicity babbled.

Digg huffed slightly amused. “Fine. Oliver then. It’s not like you live in an all girl dorm. He’ll just pretend to be a student and meet you at your room. Your roommate will be out.”

“Wait how do you know she’ll be out?”

“It’ll be Saturday morning. She stays at her boyfriend’s on weekends.” Oliver calmly responded.

“How in the hell...nevermind. I don’t want to know. Fine. I’ll see you tomorrow then. Is that it?” Felicity asked.

“Yes.” Digg said.

“Good. I’m tired so I’m gonna head out now.” Felicity said, standing and  waving at her friend at the coffee bar.

“Ready to go sweetie?” Mary asked as she walked up to her and simultaneously still gave Digg and Oliver the hairy eyeball.

“Chill Mary. They’re fine. And yes. I’m ready to go.”

“Ok sweetie.” Mary said as she wrapped her arm around Felicity and slightly rubbed her arm where Cody had grabbed her.

They left Digg and Oliver sitting by the fireplace. As they walked out Mary turned around and gave one last glare at Digg and Oliver.

“What the hell was that about?” Oliver asked baffled as he watched from the window as they climbed into an old pick up outside.

Digg just shrugged his shoulders.

* * *

 

Felicity woke up the next day feeling groggy and wondering why in the world her alarm was going off at 7:30 in the morning. She had no classes today and for once she had no work. Today was supposed to be a day of pjs and maybe a marathon of something...she wasn’t sure of what yet.

She snuggled back into her blankets and then popped right back up when she remembered why she had set an alarm. Oliver was supposed to be coming over for her to break into that system. She slowly made her way to her bathroom where she noticed her black hair looked like it got into a fight with a lawn mower and the lawn mower won.

She really didn’t feel like getting ready for a day where she planned on not leaving her room. Therefor her hair got pulled up into a messy bun and her trusty glasses were slipped on. She then went to her closet and pulled on a pair of yoga pants and an oversized MIT sweater. To top off her comfy clothes she slipped on a pair of fuzzy socks.

A quick glance at her alarm clock told her it was now 8:00. She assumed Oliver would be be arriving sometime before 9:00 so she went to her desk and started setting up her laptops.

At 8:30 on the dot there was a knock on her door. She went to open it and there stood Oliver with two cups of coffee.

“Oh Google please tell me one of those is for me.” She said as Oliver slipped into her dorm.

He simply handed her one of the cups and gave her a curious look.

“What are you staring at? That better not be judgement I see because I wasn’t about to get dressed for the day when I have no plans on leaving my dorm today and it’s just you coming over.” She grumbled as she took a long sip of her latte.

“Not at all.” Oliver simply said with a small smile on his face as he handed her the file that was tucked under his arm.

Felicity simply grumbled as she took the file and went to her desk getting ready for 9:00 to roll around. As she sat down there was another knock on her door. Both her and Oliver’s head swiveled towards the door. They then heard a voice start yelling out in the hall.

“Felicity! You’ve got a problem parked outside!” Mary’s muted voice said.

“Shit!” Felicity grumpled as she took in Oliver’s tense stance. “Give me a minute. I’ll get rid of her.” She sprinted towards the door and opened it a crack so she could see Mary but she couldn’t see in her room.

“Mary what’s going on. I’m doing a time sensitive project that’s due in a couple minutes…”

“Sorry sweetie but I thought you should know that Cody is camped outside your window and apparently he’s been out there since last night.”

Felicity stilled as she heard Oliver shuffling towards her window not doubt hearing Mary’s words and wanting to confirm what she had said himself.

“Shit. Ok thanks Mary. I’ll handle it.” Before she could close her door however, Mary had the last word.

“I hope so sweetie cause he’s been stalking you all semester and you haven't done much yet so please go the cops or something.” Mary yelled as she walked to her own door.

Felicity closed her door and slammed her head against it not wanting to turn around and see what Oliver made of that information. She decided she was going to ignore what happened. Yup. Ignoring.

“So I better get ready. We’ve only got 10 minutes before it’s 9:00 and I don’t know how long it’s going to take me to break in. But if we’re going off my usual jobs that you bring me it won’t take longer than a couple minutes. Not that I’m saying you don’t bring me difficult enough things to do because I’m completely ok with that. Like super ok with that. So don’t be getting any ideas about bringing more difficult things or more things in general, though I guess you can bring me whatever you want to bring me like you do already but I just like the setup we’ve got going on now so I’m just asking nicely for that not to change.” Felicity babbled as she sat at her desk and studiously ignored Oliver by her window. She could feel him looking at her but she refused to turn around.

She automatically started typing when she noticed the time now read 8:54. She studiously typed away letting her room fall into a quasi-awkward silence. At 9:00 on the dot she got into the system and pulled up the file the Bratva wanted copied and copied it. She was in and out of the system in 3 minutes.

She finally turned around and faced Oliver who had a slightly amused and irritated look on his face. “So are we not going to talk about the guy parked outside?” he asked lightly.

“Nope.” she replied quickly as she all but shoved the flash drive into Oliver’s hand.

He just raised an eyebrow at her and continued standing by her window.

Felicity blew out a breath and crossed her arms. “Fine. It’s just some guy who won’t take no for an answer. I tutored him last semester and he’s become obsessed with me. He also has been following me around to my classes and work. I’ve gotten really good at dodging him though so there’s that. Yesterday he got kicked out of Jitters after he sort of assulted me. I mean all he really did was grab my arms. He barely left bruises but that’s not completely his fault. I bruise like a peach.”

Oliver continued standing by the window after her small rant and stared at her for a minute. When he finally responded it was not what she thought he was going to say. “Consider it taken care of.”

“What?! No! I’ll handle it!” Felicity yelped.

“You haven’t done anything beside dodge him. I’ve got it.” Oliver simply stated. It was like he was talking about the weather.

Felicity glared. She wasn’t about to be “saved”. She’d taken care of herself just fine before the Bratva were involved in her life and she would continue to take of herself. She also didn't like the sound of, 'I've got it', it sounded ominous. 

“Fuck that.” she growled as she stomped towards her closet and pulled out a bat then reached for her purse and pulled her taser. Swiveling towards her door, she walked out all while Oliver looked on with mild concern.

Felicity stomped out of her building and made her way to Cody’s car with Oliver following close behind.

She gripped the bat and then swung it with all her might at one of the side mirrors on Cody’s car.

“HEY!” she heard him yell as he fumbled out of his car as she took another swing at the hood of his car.

When she saw that he was out she turned towards him as he started to speak.

“Lis! What’s gotten into you?!” He yelled as she took another swing at his car.

“Listen to me you fucking idiot! I don’t want anything to do with you. If you call me 'Lis' one more time I swear to God I will take this bat to your mouth. Get this through your head. I don’t like you. I never liked you and I never will! And here’s another warning. If I see you again anywhere near me or one of my classes I am going to ruin you so fast you won’t know what hit you. You’ll never graduate from MIT because it will take me two seconds to get into the records and make you fail every class you ever decide to take. And I’ll make sure your dad, the senator, finds out all about his son’s little cocaine problem. Oh yeah I know about that! If it’s online I can find it. That’ll definitely ruin daddy’s big political dreams won’t it?!” Felicity seethed.

“You bitch!” He yelled as he made a move towards her.

As soon as he got close enough she took a swing at his kneecaps and he fell hard on the ground groaning as he laid there.

“That’s a warning. Next time I won’t be so nice and I’ll hit hard enough that you’ll never be able to play lacrosse again. Do you understand?” She whispered threateningly as she knelled next to him.

“Yes, I understand. I’ll leave you alone.” He whispered back brokenly.

Felicity then swiftly got up and turned around walking back towards Oliver who looked slightly baffled.

She stopped right in front of him and said, “Never underestimate me. I’ve taken care of myself for a long time and I don’t need help now.” She then started walking back towards her dorm happy that she didn’t have to use her taser when she heard Oliver yell at her.

“Where did you learn to take care of yourself like that?”

She simply turned around while she continued to walk away and yelled back, “You can take the girl out of Vegas, but you can’t take the Vegas out of the girl.”


	4. Chapter Three: Dear Heart, Why Him? (Fall Semester, Year 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fall Semester. Year 2. Hurtful Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mentioned this on my Tumblr page but I'm so proud of myself (is that weird to say?) for doing this. I've always wanted to write something and here I am doing weekly updates! Ya'll this makes me so happy! 
> 
> Well here we have Felicity still pretty young and naive but we leave her at the end of the chapter a little less innocent to the hurt the world can inflict upon her.
> 
> Again any mistakes are my own. I try to go over it before I post it up but I'm sure there's still flaws. Russian translations in the end notes. Enjoy!

It felt so good to be back in Cambridge. Going back to Vegas for the summer had made her realize how much she didn’t belong there. All the bright lights and the noise...they were very much her mother but not her. But she went home to spend time with Donna. She might not have much in common with her but she loved her and if her mother wanted her to come home during the summer then she would.

One nice thing about the summer was that the Bratva had left her alone. It seemed that their deal was only active when she was at MIT. She was ok with that. She was afraid if she mentioned it they’d decide she could do more work and that wasn't going to work this semester. Last semester she had worked hard to maintain a 4.0 GPA but it would be harder this year especially with Simon.

Simon Bradford had been a surprise. She had met him last semester in her Intro to Cyber Security class. They had hit it off quickly but hadn’t done anything about it. It was just a lot of flirtatious looks on his part and rambling on hers. Then over the summer he’d found her personal email and started emailing her. It had kind of gone from there.

She’d driven back as soon as was acceptable in the car she’d bought herself that summer after she’d gotten off her high horse and used some of the Bratva money  she was given. She had told her mom it was from the money she’d earned from her part time jobs. That same day she drove up to Cambridge and met Simon at his apartment and their quasi-relationship became a lot more real.

The only problem with Simon was the fact that she had to keep quiet about their relationship. It wouldn’t look good for a well respected and recently divorced man to be dating one of his former students.

 

* * *

 

It was a cool November morning and she was rushing across the street to Jitters. She’d told Digg and Oliver that she’d meet them at 5:00 and it was already 5:10. She spent longer with Simon then she’d planned.

*FLASHBACK*

“Simon I have to go…” She giggled as Simon grunted and tightened his arm around her waist.

“Just call them back baby and tell them you have more important things to do...like stay naked in your boyfriend’s bed.”

“I don’t think they’d appreciate that. They’re not known for their patience and I already pushed back this meeting once. They won’t..AHH!” She squealed as Simon pulled her back into the bed and rolled above her effectively pinning her underneath him as he slowly rolled his hips against hers.

“Ohhh…” She moaned as he slipped inside her and slowly started pulling in and out. So what if she was a little late?

*END FLASHBACK*

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I’m here now. Which you know because you have eyes. And ears. And I’m sorry!” Felicity gasped as she collapsed in the open chair at the table Digg and Oliver sat at.

Digg gave her a small smile but Oliver just squinted at her. A look of concern mingled with suspicion took over his face as he took in her glowing face and tangled hair. She could even feel when he zeroed in on the hickey on her neck. She quickly tightened her scarf effectively cutting off his view.

“So what’ve you got for me this time? More identities I’ve got to erase? Or maybe you want me to create one? Or hack someone’s system? Come on don’t leave me hanging.” She blurted. She needed to get out of here quickly. She didn’t like the way Oliver was looking at her and she’d told Simon she’d be back in an hour. He didn’t like it when she took too long. They only got to see each other three times a week if they were lucky. They were both so busy.

Digg merely raised an eyebrow and pushed a cellphone across the table. “We just needto see if you can break into this phone. Our guys have tried for the past couple of days but they can’t get past the firewalls on it. If you can just get us in and make it so anyone can look through it that’s all we’ll need this time.”

She quickly picked up the phone and turned it over in her hands. She turned it on and started typing away. A small furrow on her brow appeared as she saw what was giving the Bratva hackers so many problems.

She hummed as she put the phone down and starting pulling things out of her book bag. Out came her contact case, her glasses, and some small tools she always had on her. She quickly popped out her contacts out and slipped her glasses on her face. She preferred to wear her glasses when taking things apart since she had the horrible habit of not blinking frequently enough. It was very annoying when her contacts started to dry causing things to become blurry. Disassembling the phone didn’t take long but finding what she was looking for took a lot longer.

There was chip in there somewhere and she just had to find it. She sifted through every piece of that phone. Once she found it she pulled it out and put the phone back together then she worked on breaking through the firewall. All it took was for her to plug it into her laptop and run one of her handmade algorithms and she was done When she finally looked up after handing the phone back she noticed Digg and Oliver giving her a funny look.

“What?” She asked feeling awkward as they continued to stare.

“You are remarkable Felicity Smoak.” Oliver said in awe.

“Thank you for remarking on it,” was Felicity’s quick response.

Digg burst out in laughter. “You just got straight to work! I don’t think you even noticed that we got up to get coffee. You just sat there for almost three hours working away.” Digg continued to guffaw.

“THREE HOURS?! Oh no I’ve got to go! I was only supposed to be gone an hour! Gah! He’s gonna be so pissed!” Felicity shrieked as she gathered her stuff throwing it in her bag not caring where it landed.

“Woah! Are you ok? Calm down.” Diggle exclaimed as Felicity shot up ready to bolt out of the door.

“Look I told my boyfriend I’d be back in an hour and I’ve been gone three…” Felicity explained as she pulled out her cell and winced at the ten missed calls and voicemails. She felt her stomach drop as she played a voicemail and heard his angry voice demanding to know where she was. Her face slowly lost it’s color as she continued to listen to each message.

“Oh god I’ve got to go. I’m sorry!” She rushed out not giving Digg or Oliver a second glance.

 

* * *

It took her fifteen minutes to get back to Simon’s apartment. Throwing her car in park she rushed up the stairs nearly dropping her keys in her haste to get inside. She never even noticed the small rumble of a Ducati not so far away.

“Simon?! I’m so sorry. I swear I didn’t think it would take that long. Simon?” She looked around and couldn’t find him. He wasn’t in the bedroom or the kitchen. She doubled back to the living room and saw him sitting in the corner chair next to the window.

“Simon?” She tentatively asked as she stepped towards him. His hand popped up making her abruptly stop. Waiting. His hand went back down as he clasped them in his lap. Soon they started shaking as though it was taking all his effort to keep them still.

“Who is he?” Was the hushed words Simon asked.

“Who’s who? Simon I don’t understand your question,” was her meek reply.

Then he exploded.

“Don’t you fucking lie to me! I know you were out with some guy fucking around on me! You fucking slut! Is it another professor?! Is that your thing? Like to fuck your way to 4.0 huh? You just fucked over the wrong guy!” He spit angrily at her as he reached her grabbing at her forearms. He started shaking her as tears slid down her cheeks.

“NO! I love you Simon! I would never do that to us! I was at Jitters just like I told you! You can go ask! I’d never lie to you!” Felicity whispered trying desperately to wrench herself away from his tight grip. Apparently that was the wrong thing to say, because suddenly she felt a strong stinging sensation from where he’d just slapped her.

“LIAR! You lie all the time! Didn’t you just lie to your roommate about seeing someone?! You lie about us all the time you bitch!” growling, Simon grabbed the nearest thing to him, a textbook, and threw it as hard as he could through the window he’d just been sitting by.

“Because you told me we had too! Simon why are you being like this?! Please stop.” Stumbling away from the shattered glass she made her way unsteadily towards him.

“FUCK YOU! GET OUT OF MY APARTMENT!” He yelled as he elbowed her away from him. Unfortunately that elbow made contact with her face knocking her glasses off.

She made a quick grab for them as Simon grabbed her by the back of the neck and started dragging her towards the door. He grabbed her book bag and keys and threw them out the door once he wrenched it open. Stumbling over her feet and her tears, she was then shoved unceremoniously through the door as well. “I’ll call you when I want you back slut,” he whispered as he slammed the door in her face.

Felicity just sat there stunned. Simon had never acted that way with her. Yes he had a bit of a temper but he’d never gotten so physical with her. She knew he was a bit territorial but...this was a lot.

Tears spilling down her cheeks profusely, she grabbed her things and made her way to her car. It felt like her heart was breaking. As soon as she closed the door she burst into tears. Huge racking sobs shook her body as she tried to calm down. After about half an hour she calmed down enough that she could turn on her car and drive towards campus. She never noticed the Ducati sitting just a couple of cars down taking in the entire scene.

* * *

A couple of days later after eating about two cartons of mint-chocolate chip she got a text on her burner phone. Confused, she slipped it out and read the text: “9 pm. Jitters.” -O.Q.

More confused then ever she texted back: “Is this another job?” -F.S.

A quick reply followed. “No.” -O.Q.

Sighing she glanced at the time and noticed it was already 7 pm. She’d been hoping when she heard the initial buzz that it was her own phone and that it would’ve been Simon. But no luck. He hadn’t contacted her once since two days ago when he kicked her out of his apartment. Instead she got mysterious Oliver Queen.

A quick glance in the mirror had her wincing gently as she touched under her right eye. That elbow she’d taken to the face had given her a huge shiner and her eye was so swollen she couldn’t slip in her contacts. There was no way she’d be able to hide this with make up. Looking around her small dorm room she found a hoodie and slipped it on. If she put on the hood she might be able to get away with hiding the right side of her face. Bonus, it also hid her arms that now held finger like bruises on them. She didn’t know if Oliver would care or not but she did. She didn’t like looking like a victim and she still foolishly loved Simon. She couldn’t find it in her heart to blame him even though intellectually she knew she’d done nothing wrong. But her brain wasn’t leading her thoughts right now. Her heart was.

At 8:30 she slipped on some boots and headed out of her dorm towards the parking lot. Slipping into her car, she drove to Jitters and got there with 15 minutes to spare. First stop was the counter where she carefully hid her face and ordered herself a hot chocolate. Caffeine wasn’t a good idea. She was already jittery and adding caffeine to that didn’t seem like a smart idea. Lowering herself into the only empty couch in site she waited for Oliver to show up.

What could he possibly want? It wasn’t a job so what could it be? Maybe he needed help with some homework? That was slightly plausible because she had offered to help once or twice before but he’d never actually taken her up on her offer. Felicity was so deep in thought she didn’t notice when Oliver entered the shop and made his way towards her. She didn’t notice he was here until he sat next to her and lightly tapped her shoulder.

“Oliver! Don’t do that! You nearly gave me a heart attack!” She yelped. Automatically she started patting her head making sure her hood was still in place and that a nice curtain of hair obscured her face.

He was staring at her; she could feel it through her hood as she continued sipping her drink. They just sat there silently for what felt like hours but must have only been minutes. Not one word passed his lips as he slowly stood up and extended his hand for her to take. Confused, she slipped her hand in his and allowed him to tug her out of the coffee shop. Following him outside she noticed he was tugging her to a car. Where was his motorcycle? Her confusion grew even more.

“Oliver?” She asked as he opened the passenger door for her.

Silence was her only response. It wouldn’t be until later that she would look back on this moment and wonder why she wasn’t scared. It was all very sketchy but she trusted Oliver and therefore the thought of being scared didn’t even cross her mind.

Patience wasn’t a virtue she had but she found herself trying it as she waited for Oliver to get in the car and turn it on so they could have some heat.

When Oliver did speak it was not what she was expecting at all.

He was gripping the steering wheel tightly to the point that she could see his knuckles turning white when he spoke. “Do you want me to take care of him?”

“Him? Oliver I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

In a flash Oliver was facing her and she could see his eyes light up in anger.

“The bastard that did that to your face! HIM! Do you want me to take care of HIM?!”

A gasp escaped her. Not from him yelling. Because he hadn’t really. It was from the intensity with which he had whispered the words that made her gasp.

“How...how do you know about that?” Shoving her hood off her head she turned fully towards him. “How do you know Oliver?” She whispered again as he silently seethed in his seat.

“You looked scared that day. At Jitters. When you figured out you’d been working for longer than you thought. It didn’t sit well with me so I followed you. I saw you go into an apartment and then I saw the window break. I was getting ready to come in when a couple minutes later I saw you come out. I’m not gonna ask you what happened. I saw your face then and I can see it now. Do. you. want. me. to. take. care. of. him?” With every staccato word his hands tightened on the steering wheel.

For some reason the only thing Felicity could focus on was the fact that he had followed her. “You followed me?! What the hell? You had no right to-”

“I have every right! It’s my job to watch you! It’s why I’m on the freaking east coast when I could be back in California with my fucking family helping the Bratva there! You are my job! What if it had been the Triad? You know they’re still looking for you? Did you know that? No, I’m sure you didn’t. I had every right to follow you!” Blue eyes with blown pupils glared at her as his chest rose up and down quickly with anger.

Aimless anger coursed through her own veins as words erupted from her mouth, “Why do you even care?! I’m just a job to you anyway! What if it had been the Triad? They would’ve just killed me and then your job would have been done!”

As soon as those words left her mouth she wished she could take them back. It had taken a long time for Oliver to treat her with more than indifference. She wouldn’t go as far as to say they were friends but they were good acquaintances. But with those words she felt as if she had eradicated any hope of them ever becoming friends. Tears instantly pooled in her eyes, “Oliver, I didn’t -”

Again he interrupted her. But this time there was no yelling. “Why do I care? That’s a good question. I don’t know why. I just know I do.”

He handed her a folder and continued talking as her tears fell and she tried looking through what he had given her. “He’s married. Did he tell you that? The reason he only sees you a couple times a week is because those are the days his wife thinks he has to stay in Cambridge for work. She lives in Boston. They have two little boys ages 2 and 6. He has a past of beating up previous girlfriends. His wife doesn’t know. He picks a previous student every year and they ‘date’ until he finds a reason to beat them up and then dump them. You’re the sixth one in the past ten years.” This was all said in a cold mechanical voice as he stared ahead never once looking at her. He was closing her out and it was her own fault.

She didn’t know what to say. Looking at Oliver’s profile, she said what she felt, “I thought he loved me. He said he did... **I** loved him.” And then she burst into huge sobs. She struggled to catch a breath as the torrential down pour of tears continued. When her body started shaking is when Oliver finally moved into action. He started patting her back obviously very uncomfortable with her sobbing. The fact that he was trying however, caused her to cry even harder which seemed to freak Oliver out if his wince was any indication.

“Hey it’s ok. Please stop crying like that. I don’t know what to do when you’re crying like that. Please, it’s ok.” Oliver whispered as he haltingly patted her back.

“I’m sorry.” She gasped out. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it.” She was finally getting her breathing under control. “I think I just want to go home.” Her voice was so hoarse she’s surprised Oliver can hear her at all. But he does as he turns on his car and starts pulling away from the curb.

“Your car will be in the parking lot in the morning.” That was the only murmured sentence uttered the entire way back.

Felicity was almost asleep by the time he pulled into her dorm’s parking lot. All the crying and anxiety had wiped her out. It took what little strength she had to open the door and step out. Once outside she held the door open and just looked at Oliver. Thoughts were running rampant in her mind as she stared into Oliver’s eyes. He held her gaze and said nothing, almost as though he knew she was mulling something over. Dry puffy eyes drifted to the folder still clutched in her hand.

If she gave Oliver the go ahead was she any better than the Bratva? Was she any better than Simon? She shouldn’t have to make a decision like this yet here she was. Eighteen years old and deciding the fate of a man. A cruel man but a man nonetheless.

Slowly she handed the folder of information back to Oliver and as she closed the door she damned Simon.

“Do it.”

 

* * *

 

It took a couple of days for it to happen. Long enough that some of Felicity’s bruises had begun to turn yellow and her black eye was now decidedly easier to hide. It was on a Tuesday that the news hit. Simon hadn’t shown up to any of his classes Monday so a search was started. They found his body in his car later that night.

She had to hand it to Oliver. He did good work. It had been staged perfectly. Simon was found with a gun in his hand and two letters: one for the school and one for his wife. It was cleared as a suicide. She had hacked into the Cambridge PD just to make sure that the only DNA they had was Simon’s.

In the letter that she can only guess Oliver forged or he had Simon himself write, Simon explained that he had cheated on his wife with multiple former students whom he had lied to. In the letter he further explained that he had a deep need to beat them and it was from this that his guilt surfaced. The guilt finally became too much and therefore he took his own life. It was so simple and perfect.

Felicity felt at odds with herself. She didn’t feel remorse. Oh she felt sad for his family and she felt the loss of what she once thought of as a great love. She even felt sad for the small piece of innocence she lost in deciding his fate. But she didn’t feel sad that he was dead. All there was was relief. Relief that he would never trick another girl into loving him and then throw them out like an old used toy.

That Tuesday she sent her first ever text from her own cell to Oliver’s personal number. It had taken a little digging online but she had found it. This little text was what would start their friendship.

"Thank you." -F.S.

"You’re welcome маленькая птица" -O.Q.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> маленькая птица = little bird


	5. Chapter Four: It’s a Bad Time Right Now... (Fall Semester, Year 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fall Semester, Year 3-New players are brought into the fold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again any mistakes are my own and I hope ya'll are enjoying this. Italics are meant to be spoken Russian.
> 
> A few people seemed to be a bit disturbed with Felicity in my last chapter and I feel like I need to explain a bit more clearly that this is an AU. My Felicity's morals are not going to be the same as they are in the actual show. Remember guys this a Bratva AU. More importantly MY Bratva AU. This is not a Bratva AU were Felicity makes Oliver realize that the Bratva is evil and they get out and everyone lives happily ever-after. No. I've read plenty of those. This is not that. SPOILER ahead!
> 
> This is a Bratva AU were Felicity is brought into the fold. She will eventually join wholeheartedly!
> 
> Thank you and enjoy!

As Felicity slowly woke up from her coma like sleep she wondered why her apartment was so dark? After living in the dorms for two years she'd finally decided to move out and get her own place. One of the reasons being that she hated how dark and dingy the dorms were. As she rolled over she was quickly reminded of why it was so dark when she came across a man's chest.

'Oh that's right. I slept at Cooper's again. I need to stop doing that... He's gonna get the wrong idea,' she thought as she tried to extract herself out of his grasp and slip out of his twin xl bed.

Cooper still lived in the dorms and was a guy Felicity had met in her advanced computer security class. They'd got along great but after last year Felicity was a little weary of any man who paid her attention. That didn't stop Cooper though. He'd been relentless in trying to get her to go out with him but she had refused until finally she slept with him. It didn’t have the desired effect Cooper had wanted. She still didn’t want a relationship but they had unfortunately fallen into an unhealthy pattern of her sleeping with him and Cooper expecting it to turn into something.

Felicity might not be dating but she was still a woman and damn it she had urges just like anyone else and Cooper enjoyed scratching that itch. What she hadn't been expecting was for Cooper to actually be good. He wasn't amazing per say but he at least made her orgasm with his fingers once before he went in and finished up.

Sighing, Felicity pulled on her clothes and crept out of his room as quietly as she could. Once outside she ran to her car and drove home. Sleeping with Cooper always left a bad taste in her mouth after. Probably because she knew he had feelings for her and she did not reciprocate those feelings back. She tried but anytime she even thought she was getting a twinge of feelings something made her stop. If she looked deeper into that she’d recognize that her gut was trying to tell her something.

Pulling into her spot, she noticed a black suv and a motorcycle parked on the curb. ‘Great. Just what I need. Digg and Oliver. Well they’re just going to have to wait till after I take a shower,’ she peevely thought as she stomped up the stairs. Opening her door, she yelled into the apartment, “LUCY! I’M HOME!”

A quick reply of, “RICKY!” boomed back at her. That could only be Digg. She kind of doubted Oliver got the reference.

“Not that I’m not happy to see both of you...actually I’m not. No offence. But I feel gross and I just want to shower and then lay around in comfy clothes with no pants. Because this is my apartment and if I want to walk around with no pants I should get to walk around with no pants. Not that you need to know that. Soooo what are you doing here?” Felicity pondered out loud as she looked at the two men making themselves at home on her couch.

“Someone tried to break in here last night.” Diggle replied with no preamble.

“What?!” She squeaked as she fell back into her recliner.

Oliver leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs, and spoke, “We were driving by when we got a call from your neighbor-”

“Wait. My neighbor? Frank? He’s bratva isn’t he?! I knew he wasn’t a nurse!” Felicity humphed. Realistically she knew they were watching her, for her safety they said, but to have it confirmed gave her the willies.

“Ex-Bratva. He’s retired. So yes he is a nurse. He called us on his way to his shift saying someone sketchy was hanging around your door. When he asked if he could help him the guy said he knew you and that you told him to come by and get what he needed but that you must have forgotten to leave the door unlocked. That put Frank on high alert and he called us. When we got here he was hanging around but he got one look at us and bolted. He disappeared before we caught him. We took a look at the door and it looks like he was trying to pick it.” Oliver explained.

“So you stayed here all last night? Don’t you sleep?” Felicity murmured as she sat there a bit stunned.

“Where were you?” Diggle asked ignoring her questions.

“Why does that matter?” She bristled.

“We just need to make sure weren’t doing something you’re not supposed to be doing or that you weren’t with someone you’re not supposed to be with,” Oliver simply stated.

“EXCUSE ME?” This time Felicity didn’t bristle. She outright yelled. When she got angry one of two things happened: she either used her loud voice or she spoke Russian. If she was really angry she did both. She jumped out of her seat and made her way to where Oliver and Diggle sat.

“WHO THE HELL DO YOU GUYS THINK YOU ARE? I CAN GO OUT AND DO WHATEVER OR WHOEVER THE HELL I WANT! IF I DECIDED TO GO ON A MURDERING SPREE OR GO HAVE AN ORGY IT’S NONE OF YOUR GODDAMN BUSINESS!” Felicity bellowed. If it was possible for smoke to come out of her ears it would be.

Oliver rose from his spot on her couch meeting her halfway; glaring just as much as she was. “ _I think it’s my job to know that you’re ok at all times. I think I’m the guy that’s supposed to protect you but if you don’t let me do my job or let Diggle do his job then this entire setup is pointless and you know it!_ ” Apparently when Oliver got angry he transitioned to Russian.

Diggle just continued sitting calmly deciding to let Oliver and Felicity handle this on their own.

_“It’s not your job to stalk me! Don’t even pretend that crack about ‘being with someone I’m not supposed to be with’ isn’t about last year! I already apologized and thanked you about that. And don’t think I haven’t noticed how extra stalkery you are lately! I bet you knew where I was last night anyway! Didn’t you?!”_ Felicity accused as she jammed her pointer finger into Oliver’s chest also transitioning to Russian.

Both Oliver and Diggle stayed silent, though in Diggle’s case it was more out of amusement.

_“I said DIDN’T YOU?!”_

_“Yes! There are you happy?!”_ Oliver bellowed.

Deflating slowly, Felicity answered back calmly, _“No, I’m not happy Oliver. I’m just tired. Can’t you understand that? I never wanted any of this. I never wanted to be beat up, or stalked, or have a criminal organization looking for me.”_ Felicity sighed and slowly made her way to her recliner, “I was with Cooper. And you know who that is so don’t pretend. I don’t like being asked redundant questions so don’t ask me things you already know the answers to.”

Felicity closed her eyes and tossed her arm over her eyes, missing the apologetic look Oliver threw her way or the interested look on Diggle’s face.

“ _Felicity…_ ” Oliver tried to say something, though what she would never now since Digg finally decided to cut in.

“Felicity, we had to tell Anatoly what happened.” Diggle stated matter of factly.

“What did he say?” She continued to keep her eyes closed but now both her hands were gripping her recliner armrests.

“We discussed at length what your best options are. He doesn’t want to disrupt your school work so we’ve decided that you’ll continue going to your classes like nothing is wrong. However we ask that you no longer socialize after class. We’re putting a body-guard with you and a live in guard as well.” Diggle recited to her almost as if he was reading a script. He might be. She wouldn’t know. She still had her eyes closed.

“So what? One of you is going to follow me to all my classes and the other is going to live here with me? No offense but a huge hulking man following me around is not going to look that discreet. Or Oliver Queen for that matter. I know you’ve stayed out of the limelight these past three years Oliver but people still know who you are.” She finally opened her eyes and looked at them. Diggle looked calm as he got ready to explain the rest to her but it was Oliver’s look that worried her. He looked...grumpy almost. As though he might not like whatever Diggle was about to say.

“That’s true. Which is why we’ll be bringing some new people in. Anatoly and I thought it’d be best if we disguised your new live in bodyguard. And what better way than a roommate?”

“Ok? But there’s not really any room for another person here…” Felicity was slightly confused. It was to early for ALL of this.

“Which is why you’ll be moving. Don’t worry, your new apartment is just as close if not closer to campus. It also has the added bonus of having a top of the line security system,being indoor corridor unlike this place, and a doorman.” Oliver explained.

He still had that displeased look on his face though. So this wasn’t the part of the plan that displeased him. She had also noticed that Diggle had said Anatoly and himself had planned this. Which meant Oliver had had no say in any of this. That must have irked him.

“Wait. You said new people. As in more than one. So does that mean there’s someone else? And am I not going to like this part? Because if Oliver’s face is any indication I’m not going to like this part.” Now Felicity was nervous; tugging on her hair nervous.

Digg glanced at Oliver who still had a scowl on his face and rolled his eyes, “Don’t worry about Oliver. He just doesn’t think the kid is ready but this is simple enough. We’ve trained him ourselves. He’ll be fine. His name is Roy. He’ll take you to class and meet you at the end of your class schedule and take you home or anywhere else you need to go.”

“Alright...but how am I supposed to explain him? People are going to wonder who he is.” Felicity questioned as she noticed Oliver’s frown deepen.

Diggle sighed, “Please take into consideration that Anatoly and I discussed this at length. Roy will be posing as your boyfriend.”

“WHAT?!” Felicity jumped up from her seat, again.

“Felicity, calm down. We know what we’re doing. We’ve discussed this with Roy and he’s on board. What exactly makes you uncomfortable?” Diggle inquired.

“I...well it’s...I mean…” Felicity floundered. The idea actually didn’t make her uncomfortable. It was the idea that she had no say in the matter. It seemed Digg picked up on this because he continued.

“After you get ready for the day we’re going over to the new apartment and you’ll meet Roy and your roommate, whose name is Sara by the way, and if for some reason you guys don’t mesh or you are uncomfortable we’ll find replacements. While we’re out we’ll have your apartment packed up and everything moved over." Digg stated as he motioned for her to go to her bedroom.

* * *

After a much needed shower, Felicity found herself seated in the back of Digg's SUV about to meet her new 'roommate' and her new 'boyfriend'. She was not happy about this. Intellectually she accepted why this was happening, she understood it was for her safety but that nagging feeling of having no say was still bothering her. Digg and Oliver had known her now for almost three years. They must know how this was eating at her. She was uncharacteristically quiet on the way to her new apartment.

Once parked they walked up to her new doorman and she was introduced. Apparently it would always be either Jim or Tim at the door and they were twins. It was supposed to freak people out by making it look like the same person was always at the door. Still she was quite.

Up the elevator they went and Felicity’s mind finally started working in overdrive. Now that they were so close she was trying to figure out what she was going to tell people. The moving wouldn’t be difficult. She’d say that because her previous apartment was broken into her uncle, who she already told people paid for her college, did not feel comfortable with her living on her own. Anatoly was kind of like an uncle. Sort of. And because of the break in she also did not feel comfortable living there. The boyfriend would be more difficult to sell. She’d have to ease him in...especially since a lot of her classmates knew she was sleeping with Cooper. Oh damn...Cooper. Poor guy was going to be devastated and pissed. He’d tried to get her to date him so hard and it was going to look like she’d used him until something better came along.

Next thing she knew they were standing in front of a door and Digg was handing her a pair of keys. “The gold key is your apartment key and the black fob is to let you into the parking garage,” he softly stated as she slowly opened the door.

Her new home was bright and sunny which she automatically was thankful for. The entire space was white with color thrown at it, a green rug here, multicolored pillows there, yellow curtains, and copper accents thrown in everywhere. She liked it. It somehow calmed her. As she looked around the living room she saw a flash of blonde hair and then she was tackled onto the couch in the fiercest hug she’d ever been a part of.

“Hi I’m Sara and I’m so excited to meet you! I haven’t been put on assignment in forever and now, not only did I get put on assignment but I got to move too!”

Felicity was momentarily thrown off but then she opened her mouth, “Hello Sara, my name’s Felicity, which you probably knew since I’m your assignment and since you tackled me with a hug instead of like stabbing me...wait are you a stabber or a shooter? Or maybe you do something else? I’m not exactly sure what you do with the Bratva but I’m assuming you know how to hurt someone since you’re living with me and making sure I don’t get hurt or killed or something like that. And oh my god I can’t believe I just asked you how you prefer to hurt people...I’m going to stop talking now.”

During her long schpeel Sara had slowly let go of her and was now just staring at her. Digg and Oliver stood behind her with identical looks of amusement on their faces already very used to her rambles. Sara blinked and then stated in a very coy voice, “You’re cute. I’m keeping you.”

Again Felicity opened her mouth before thinking, “Are you hitting on me? Because I’m flattered but I don’t roll that way unless you count that one time in high school which I don’t because you know drunk,” she said pointing to herself, “and I don’t know if you’ve heard but I’ve got a fake boyfriend somewhere around here.” Quickly her face started to heat up as she hung her head in embarrassment, “Why am I allowed to speak?” she groaned.

“Speaking of fake boyfriend, that would be me,” she heard a masculine voice that did not belong to Oliver and Digg speak.

Whipping her head up and towards the kitchen she saw a young man walk out with a sandwich in his hand and a smile on his dimpled face.

“You guys got me a greek god for a fake boyfriend?!” Felicity yelped as she got a good look at who she assumed was Roy.

Oliver frowned and Sara burst into laughter.

“No seriously guys. No one is going to believe I’m dating him! No offense I’m sure you’re really nice but pretty boy isn’t my type.” She was quick to explain hoping she hadn’t unwittingly offended him.

“No worries. Goth isn’t really my thing either.” He simply supplied while lifting an eyebrow at her hair.

“Exactly! People are gonna think he’s got a weird kink or something.” She supplied to Digg and Oliver. Then turning to Roy she simply stated, “And goth isn’t really my thing either, at least not anymore. At this point I’ve just looked like this for so long I don’t know how else to look.”

Before Digg or Oliver could respond Sara jumped in, “That’s perfect! From what I’ve heard it was going to be pretty hard to just shove Roy into your life but that’s a perfect opening.” She beamed as the men looked at her confused.

“Oh come on guys. You didn’t think she could just go around saying she has a boyfriend out of nowhere did you? Especially not after spending the night with another guy.” Sara asked as she looked at the boys questioningly. Felicity was not at all surprised that Sara seemed to also know about Cooper.

“Thank you! That’s exactly what I was just thinking but these neanderthals don’t get that!” Felicity explained as she turned towards Sara, “I’m so happy to have more estrogen around these two guys-well three now.”

The men looked on confused as Sara and Felicity bonded over their mutual agreement that the boys were idiots.

“Sara. Explain.” Diggle simply stated and Sara jumped to attention.

“Ok so unless you want to bring more attention to her than is necessary it would be best if we introduced Roy in slowly. That way Felicity has room to fabricate a story for people who ask. We can even say I introduced them since Roy works with me. It also gives us time to change Felicity’s looks. Because she’s right. They’ll take one look at Roy and one look at her and it’ll look fishy. At least to whoever is watching her. And seeing as the Triad found her already a little extra camouflage won’t hurt. Of course it won’t work forever but it’ll give us some time to go looking. So we can kill two birds with one stone. Change her looks and she’ll blend in better and it won’t look so weird when her and Roy start to hang out. Plus she wants to.” Sara explained while standing in a soldier's ready position. It was all very in odds with how she spoke in a peppy upbeat manner.

Diggle nodded, seeming to be in agreement with Sara.

“Works for me,” Roy shrugged, “Except who’ll walk with her to her classes right now? If I’m supposed to be introduced later someone’s gonna have to cover for me.”

Oliver jumped in before anyone else had a chance to speak up, “I’ll do it.”

“No, Oliver you won’t. It’s the same reason we’re bringing Sara and Roy in. You’ll stick out. Sara, you’ll just have to pull double duty and do both jobs for two weeks. That’s all the time I’m giving you.” Digg stated as he moved towards the door. He stood there for a second raising an eyebrow at Oliver who continued to frown in annoyance. He then moved that raised eyebrow to Roy who quickly jumped up and turned to Felicity.

“Well it was good meeting you soon-to-be-fake-girlfriend.” Roy smirked as he stuck his hand out for her to shake.

With a smirk of her own she shook his hand and replied, “Nice to meet you to soon-to-be-fake-boyfriend. This will be interesting.” With that all the men walked out of her new apartment.


	6. Chapter Five: ...But Life Goes On (Spring Semester, Year 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spring Semester, Year 3. Someone's bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was supposed to update last Sunday or Monday but it was my birthday on Sunday and Monday ended up being a day of relaxation where I didn't go anywhere near the internet so Tuesday it is! I might actually just move my updates to Tuesday. That might be easier for me... 
> 
> Oh well on with the show! Again all mistakes are my own and I hope ya'll are enjoying this. Translations are in the end notes!

Felicity could feel the sun hitting her face as she snuggled deeper into her comforter. Blinking open tired eyes she froze for a second when she didn’t see black hair on her pillow. ‘Oh yeah. I’m blonde now.’ She thought as she stretched.

Two weeks. That’s all it took for Sara to take Felicity from goth to nerd chic. She wasn’t complaining. She actually felt like this suited her best. Her mother had been ecstatic when she’d seen the blonde hair on skype. It had been two weeks of shopping and salon trips. Apparently it wasn’t so easy to go from midnight black hair to sunshiny blonde. It had been pure luck that their allotted two weeks from Digg had fallen during winter break. It had made everything a lot easier.

Cooper hadn’t been completely surprised when Felicity told him they had to stop sleeping together. It had probably helped that she’d done this before. Except last time she’d had a lapse in judgement and had come back around. Not this time. Coop probably figured it out over the break. He’d gone home to North Carolina and she’d stayed here. She had gotten multiple texts from him daily and she’d ignored every single one. Eventually he had stopped.

What made her feel horrible is that she didn’t feel horrible. She was slightly glad to be rid of Cooper. The last time they’d been together he’d come drastically close to telling her he loved her. She could see it in his eyes and she had purposely changed the subject. She didn’t love Cooper but she didn’t know how to not hurt him.

Today would be the first day back to school, the first day her peers would see her new look, and the first time she’d be seen with her fake boyfriend. If she said she wasn’t nervous that would be a lie. She’d hoped that things would cool down over break to the point that she could convince everyone she didn’t need Roy. Of course her life didn’t work that way. About a week ago another attempt into her old apartment was made. This time they succeeded, however all they found was an empty apartment.

Looks like Roy would be a necessity. Not that she minded. She grudgingly had to admit that she liked Roy. She liked him even more after he had mentioned that he had a girlfriend who knew exactly what he was doing and had told him to play nice with Felicity. That had made Felicity roll on the ground laughing because he had said it with such a straight face. Almost as though he was afraid of his girlfriend.

Finally rolling out of bed, Felicity made her way to her closet selecting one of her premade outfits. She’d decided last night that she’d be too nervous all week to be able to select anything that looked decent so Sara had taken it upon herself to help Felicity out.

Sara had been a surprise. She treated Felicity more like a friend then an assignment which Felicity appreciated. It made her feel less like she was in a jail cell and more like she was hanging out with her actual roommate. It made everything feel more normal. Except for when Digg popped up.

It seemed that now that she was living more entrenched in the Bratva world she was expected to do more work. Instead of her monthly jobs she was now given weekly jobs by Diggle. The only benefit was that they were all incredibly simple, at least in her mind they were. The one time Sara had peaked over her shoulder to see her work had apparently given her a headache. She didn’t look over her shoulder anymore.

‘This winter break has actually been almost fun,’ Felicity mused as she placed her glasses on her face and gave herself a final look in the mirror. She had never thought herself a looker, what with her big eyes and black hair, but she had to admit that the blonde and colorful clothes suited her. She would even go so far as to say she looked pretty.

‘The only thing that would have made the winter better was Oliver,’ She thought as she walked out into the kitchen and got herself a cup of hot coffee.

Oliver had been sent on assignment to Russia. From what she had gathered, Anatoly had asked Digg to pick his best man to represent Anatoly. Digg had picked Oliver. Oliver was going to be working directly with the Pakhan. The only thing was that there was no timetable. No one knew when he’d be coming back. Digg had broken the news to her and Sara a week after Felicity had moved in. Sara had looked surprised but had quickly hidden it with a masked smile. Felicity had asked questions as was expected of her even though Oliver himself had told her he was leaving.

Ever since the Simon incident Oliver and her had become close. She’d even go so far as to say they were friends. It’s not like they hung out or anything but they did talk. If texting was considered talking, which it was in this day and age. Oliver and her texted all the time. Even when she was in class. Cooper had even seen a text once and had been curious as to who it was from. Now that she thought about it it was most likely jealousy that had caused him to ask so many questions.

Oliver had texted her a couple of days before Digg had come and broken the news. Felicity took her cell phone out and swiped back to the saved conversation.

‘Hey.’-O.Q.

‘Hey, what’s up?’-F.S.

‘I just wanted to say sorry for yelling at you in your apartment. I didn’t want to leave with that hanging over us.’-O.Q.

‘It’s fine. We were both being hot headed.’ -F.S.

‘Wait...leave? Leave where?’-F.S.

‘I’ve been picked to go on assignment in Russia маленькая птица. That’s all I can tell you.’-O.Q.

‘I’m actually already out of Cambridge. I went home to see my family before I go.’-O.Q.

‘How long will you be gone?’-F.S.

‘Are you trying to say you’ll miss me маленькая птица?’-O.Q.

‘I don’t know. It’s open-ended. Like I said I can’t tell you much but that’s also because I don’t know much.’-O.Q.

‘Well, don’t get a big head or anything but, I will miss you.’-F.S.

‘I won’t be able to text you over there. I could email you. If you still want to talk.’-O.Q.

‘They’ll be scattered emails. Because I’m not sure when I’ll have access to a computer with internet.’-O.Q.

‘Yeah I still want to talk to you Queen.’-F.S.

‘Email sounds good. I’ll fill you in on what you’re missing here. Hey maybe I’ll fall in love with my fake boyfriend...or even better with my new roommate!’-F.S.

‘JK. It’ll be boring here without your brooding.’-F.S.

‘Ha. You’re a comedian. And Roy has a girlfriend. A real one.’-O.Q.

‘I know. He told me. I told you I was only joking.’-F.S.

‘And Sara jokes but she’s got a girlfriend too.’-O.Q.

‘If I’m going to email you I’m going to need your email address.’-O.Q.

‘Ok, Ok. I was only kidding about Sara and Roy.’-F.S.

‘And yes email address. That’s a thing you’ll need.’-F.S.

‘It’s [FMS09@gmail.com](mailto:FMS09@gmail.com)’-F.S.

‘That’s my private email. Be careful in Russia Oliver.’-F.S.

‘Of course маленькая птица.’-O.Q.

That had been about a month ago. She’d gotten a short email when he arrived in Russia but since then nothing. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t worried about it. Sighing she made her way out of her apartment, careful to close the door gently as to not wake Sara up.

Once she was in the lobby she waited for the roar of Roy’s mustang. This was the first time Roy was taking her to school and she was nervous. She’d looked up her class rosters to see who would be in her classes this semester and luckily Cooper was only in one. Unluckily it was the last one of the day. She should’ve been more diligent and hacked the system to get him out but with the break ins, the moving, the new look, the new fake boyfriend, and all the new Bratva work, hacking the schools system had been the last thing on her mind.

Right at 8:30 on the dot she heard Roy’s mustang and got a text from him saying he was here.

“Hey Blondie,” Roy exclaimed as she slid into the car. “I keep forgetting you look like this now. I was about to ask you what you thought you were doing climbing into my car,” he laughed.

“Very original with the nickname Roy. I’m sure that is not going to be the last time I hear that.” She huffed as she slipped on her seat-belt.

The drive to school was easy. Roy was easy. They’d become friends quickly. He kind of acted like what a brother would be like she assumed. It was good that they were such quick friends. It made the acting easier. They’d gone grocery shopping and school book shopping together just to get used to each other and it had gone off without a hitch. Roy acted the same way he always did with her except when they were out he threw an arm around her shoulders and she threw her arm around his waist. When they were out if she said something funny enough to make him laugh instead of a fist bump she got a kiss on the top of her head and if he said something he got a kiss on the cheek. It was simple and easy. The only thing they had both equally vetoed was kissing on the mouth. She wasn’t comfortable with it and neither was Roy. They would if they had to but only under dire circumstances.

Next thing she knew they were parked and Roy was opening her door for her.

“Relax,” he whispered as he threw his arm around her. “We’ve been out and about for a week now. It’s just school.”

“It’s not just school Roy. This is where I still have to spend an entire other year. These are my peers. You might only have to see them twice a day but I’ve got to spend half my day with them. What if someone figures out that we’re faking? Or what if people think it’s weird that I just dropped all my friends? Oh God what if-” Felicity blurted as he walked her to her first class.

“Felicity,” Roy carefully said as he stopped them in front of her class. He dropped his arm and put both hands on her shoulders. “Everything is going to be fine. Did you or did you not tell me you’ve only got a few friends. And the few you do have are acquaintances at best. The only one we really have to worry about is Cooper and whoever is feeding the Triad information on you. Deep breaths.” Roy then gently pulled her towards him and rested his forehead on hers so they were looking each other in the eye.

“Don’t look now but if I’m not mistaken that’s Cooper glaring at me,” Roy whispered.

It was at the moment that Felicity realized what a picture they probably presented now. They probably looked all cute and coupley. Roy was good! She snuck a look to where she assumed Cooper would be and sure enough saw him glaring in her general direction.

“Ok I can do this,” she whispered back. “I’ll see you after my classes today?” She asked louder so as to be heard if anyone was listening.

“Yes. I’ll pick you up. Bye Blondie,” he answered. Then he gave the top of her head a kiss.

She gave his cheek a peck and answered back with, “Bye Abercrombie.” She then walked towards her class completely ignoring Cooper. Actually why was Cooper here? This wasn’t one of his classes. Her question was answered when she felt a hand on her arm tugging her away from the door.

“Felicity. You’re going to talk to me,” she heard as she was dragged away from her class. Wrenching her arm away she pivoted towards Cooper and looked at him over her glasses.

“I don’t have anything to say to you Cooper.” Felicity stated as she saw Cooper trying to mask his anger.

“What do you mean you have nothing to say to me?! You just completely dropped me. No calls no texts. And then I come back and find out you completely changed yourself for some douche-bag! What the hell has gotten into you? Did he make you do this to yourself? Is he-” Cooper was cut off from his line of questioning by a hand grabbing his shoulder and tugging. Hard.

It looked like Roy hadn’t left like he said he was. He had stuck around probably expecting Cooper to try to talk to her. Before Roy could say anything Felicity cut in.

“Look Cooper I’m sorry you feel however you’re feeling. But this has nothing to do with you. I told you when we started hooking up that it was never going to be serious. I met Roy after I changed my look which by the way I did for me. If you ever knew me at all you know I’d never change myself for a guy. I’m sorry that I’m dating Roy and would never date you. And I didn’t just drop you. I told you we were done. It’s not my fault if you thought I’d change my mind.” Felicity angrily whisper yelled.

“Now Roy is going to let go of you and you are going to leave me alone. I’m going to go to class and we aren’t going to talk to each other anymore. Do you understand?” She questioned as she saw Roy’s grip tighten on Cooper’s shoulder causing him to wince.

“Yes.” Cooper ground out. Once Roy let go of him he stalked past Felicity shoving her unceremoniously out of the way. As he passed her, Felicity heard him muttering under his breath. The few words she caught was something she never expected to hear from Cooper. It wasn’t even what he said. She didn’t even really understand it. It was the language he spoke it in. The words continued to echo in her head once he walked away, “Nǐmen dōu sǐle.”

* * *

Cooper was Triad. That was the only explanation. But even though logically it made sense she didn’t want to believe it. This was the guy who asked her out at least once a week. This was the guy who’d nerd out over comic books with her. Yes she’d never felt anything past friendship but she could’ve sworn he actually cared about her.

However now that she was trying to think with her brain and not her heart she could see the small signs she had ignored before. The fact that he always asked to see her apartment and would get mad when she refused. The fact that she caught him multiple times trying to break into her phone; what she had categorized as jealousy had in fact been spying. She remembered the time they had sat down to watch a foreign film and she had to ask if they could put the captions on. It had been in Chinese and he had apparently been following it just fine. She could even remember his flimsy excuse that hadn’t seemed so flimsy then; he’d told her he hadn’t even been paying attention because he’d been looking at her however he had then gone on to explain what she’d missed even though he’d sworn he’d never seen it before.

Gosh how could she have been so stupid? She had sworn to Diggle that there was no way it could be Cooper. She’d even barely looked into him when asked to, that’s how sure she was. All day she heard that little Chinese sentence in her head. It was on a loop. She barely paid attention in her classes. Despite that fact, she did pay enough attention to make sure she sat nowhere near Cooper in her last class, the only class they shared. She made sure she sat in the opposite side of the lecture hall and slightly further back than him so she could see what he was doing but he couldn’t see her unless he craned his neck around.

Once the class was over she booked it, letting out a breath she didn’t know she was holding when she saw Roy leaning up against the wall outside her class. Girls were standing in clusters around him and whispering while sneaking glances. If she wasn’t so worked up she would have laughed at the uncomfortable way he was standing with his attention on his phone, no doubt texting his real girlfriend. He must have been paying more attention than she thought however because as soon as she was a couple steps out of the room he looked up at her and made his way towards her.

“Hey are you ok? Did someone say something to you today? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he inquired as he threw his arm over her shoulders whilst simultaneously taking her book bag from her. Felicity completely ignored the jealous looks thrown her way from the cluster of girls as Roy himself completely ignored the jealous looks thrown his own way from a couple of guys.

“No, I’m not ok. I’ll tell you when we get back to the apartment. I should tell all of you together,” she answered as she huddled closer to Roy on the way to his car. As they walked to the parking lot the only thing she could think was that she wished Oliver was here.

* * *

Oliver,

Hey how’s Russia? Actually you probably can’t answer that can you? Nevermind. Now I don’t want you to get a big head or freak out or anything but...you were right. Sort of. You know when you said you were just making sure I wasn’t with someone I wasn’t supposed to be with? Well, oops? I mean I didn’t know Cooper was possibly a part of the Triad! Notice how I said possibly. I don’t know if you remember but today was the first day back to class this semester so today was the first day Roy took me to class and Cooper might have got a little handsy with me. No worries. I’m not bruised or anything but when he was walking away he said something in what sounded like chinese, or possibly mandarin...the point was it was Asian.

Once I heard that sentence all these memories that I think I’ve been repressing came to me but I still needed to make sure. So when I got home I looked up what he had muttered under his breath. My pronunciation of it probably wasn’t very accurate but there’s no way I could forget it. It’d been haunting me all day. The direct translation was: You’re both dead.

Now I could be jumping to conclusions but my gut tells me I’m right. Before you get your undies in a twist I did tell Digg, Sara, and Roy. Please don’t be getting any ideas about trying to come back. I’m not sure what you’re doing over there but it’s got to be important if you’re with the Pakhan. And I can already hear you muttering to yourself that you’re my protector. That’s Roy’s job while you’re away. He’s doing a good job; he’s no Oliver Queen but he’ll do.

Be safe. Email me back when you can.

  
-маленькая птица

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> маленькая птица (little bird)
> 
> Nǐmen dōu sǐle (You’re both dead.)


	7. Chapter Six: Tough Times Don’t Last; Tough People Do (Senior Year, Fall Semester, Graduation)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Senior Year, Fall Semester, Graduation, Things go boom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I definitely got a case of writer's block with this chapter. It was pretty difficult to push through. I'm not sure I love this chapter but I rewrote it a couple times and this was the best take...Hope it's not to noticeable. Mistakes are my own. Translations at the end. 
> 
> Italics= spoken Russian
> 
> Click [HERE](http://www.polyvore.com/ive_got_sinning_on_my/set?id=172148147) to see Felicity's Graduation outfit.
> 
> Enjoy ya'll!

Felicity woke up earlier then she had been planning when her laptop started beeping at her. It only beeped for one of three things. Oliver emailed her, someone was looking her up online, or she got a hit on Cooper.

She knew it wasn’t an email from Oliver because she’d just got one last week and usually she got one a month. So it had to be one of the other two. She rolled out of bed and padded over to her laptop and a quick glance told her it was just one of the company’s she applied for after graduation that were looking her up.

She hadn’t really thought it was Cooper. Not after what happened last semester. Laying back down she thought back on what had happened. After she had emailed Oliver that day she had gone to Sara, Roy, and Digg and explained what she had heard. They had looked so surprised. She had done such a good job of proving it wasn’t Cooper that it had felt like a blow to all of them. Once that was done she had sat down at her laptop and had not moved until she had found everything there was to find on Cooper Sheldon.

Shame had washed over her then and even now thinking back. There had been so much damning evidence once she really went looking. She’ll give the Triad this they did good work. But not as good as her. She had dug and dug until there was nothing else to find. The Triad had apparently funded Cooper’s own organization that went by the moniker Brother Eye. It was pretty much a cyber terrorist group. Cooper had been in their pocket since he was 15 years old.

It didn’t stop there of course. They had given Cooper a new life when he had been found by the FBI at 17. They had broken him out and gotten rid of his old identity and given him the name Cooper Sheldon. The only reason she’d even been able to find that out was because the dirty FBI agent the Triad had used had kept a secret file on their work computer. Probably in case the Triad ever double crossed him.

She had poured over everything she could get her hands on. His school records, his bank statements, his emails, his texts, etc. For an entire week her every waking thought was consumed by Cooper Sheldon.

Difficult didn’t even begin to explain how hard it was to act normal in school. It was a good thing they were supposed to be in the outs or people would have thought it was weird how hard she tried to ignore him. But while she was busy ignoring Cooper, the others: Digg, Sara and Roy had been busy planning a kidnapping. They needed to know what he knew.

It had not gone as planned. It seemed Cooper was not as oblivious as she had thought because when the Bratva finally closed in he disappeared. Like a ghost. He was no where to be found. Her classmates thought he had left because he was broken hearted over Felicity. She had become a heartbreaker.

The only thing Cooper left was a text to her. It had been so simple and to the point but yet it had scared the hell out of her.

“I’ll see you again, Xiǎo niǎo.”-CS

“Xiǎo niǎo,” it had been that one phrase, her nickname in Chinese, that had made her crawl into her bed and not move for three days. She hadn’t gotten out of bed until she had gotten an email from Oliver that had been the kick in the pants she needed. She could remember that email by memory; that’s how many times she read it.

 

маленькая птица,

Are you ok? Digg and Sara said you haven’t gotten out of bed in days. I don’t know exactly what’s going on because Digg won’t tell me but I’ll come home. I’ll come home right now if you ask me to. I just need to know what’s got you so scared? It’s the only explanation I can think of for you to decide to not fight back. You must be petrified. Because the Felicity I know would be up and planning. You are a literal genius маленькая птица. Use that big brain of yours and come up with a plan or I’m coming home. I’m giving you 24 hours to respond to this or I’m coming back with or without your permission.

-Oliver

He had been right. She had been petrified. The thought that Cooper knew more about her than she had originally thought had been unthinkable. Hence her almost comatose state in her bed. But Oliver telling her he would come home...that he was coming home if she didn’t respond had made her pop out of bed and shoot an email back in under five minutes. She might not completely understand or know what Oliver was doing in Russia but she knew it had to be important and that if he left it would be bad for him and probably bad for herself. She wouldn’t let that happen. So she sent a response that said she was up and if he came home she would never forgive him. That was the day she set up the searches for Cooper.

If anyone even looked him up she would know. If he tried to access his old accounts, visit his old online haunting grounds, or even so much as breathed online she would know. Cooper was good she’d give him that but she was better. The only reason she hadn’t gotten him before was because she believed wholeheartedly that he had nothing to do with this mess. She had been wrong. She wouldn’t be wrong again.

Finally rolling out of bed when her actual alarm went off she made her way to the bathroom to get ready for her big day. Today was graduation. She hadn’t planned on walking across the stage but her mom wouldn’t hear of it and neither would Digg, Sara, Roy, and even Anatoly. It was enough for her to know she had graduated Summa Cum Laude but apparently she had no say.

She had had a full schedule this semester. Anatoly had done a good job of leaving her school life alone up until now but now that they knew the Triad were close he had “requested” that she finish up school as soon as possible. That had meant a full course load this semester and a full course load over last summer. Felicity hadn’t really minded. She was ready to leave Cambridge. Funny how she used to think coming to MIT was going to be this amazing life changing event in her life. It had been. Just not the way she had been expecting.

If she was being honest with herself the reason she wasn’t looking forward to graduation was because Oliver wouldn’t be there. He had told her at the beginning of the semester that he wouldn’t be done with his obligations by then. That was actually when she decided she didn’t want to walk. Oddly over these past four years Oliver had become her best friend. He was who she felt most comfortable with. She couldn’t lie to herself; she also found Oliver attractive and if she didn’t watch herself she would have developed a huge crush on him a long time ago but anytime she thought she felt something she stamped it down. She’d rather have a best friend than a boyfriend. And anyway she thought Oliver looked at her more like a sibling than an attractive female.

Standing in front of her closet she looked at the baby blue dress that Thea had sent her as a graduation gift. Thea had been a surprise this last year. She was Roy’s actual girlfriend and to her surprise Oliver’s sister. She thought she understood why Oliver didn’t seem to like Roy now. Thea would Skype Roy at least once a day and a lot of those times Felicity had been around so she had gotten to know the younger Queen fairly well. So it hadn’t completely surprised her when Thea had sent her a graduation present. Actually everyone had given her a present.

Roy had given her a terabyte thumb drive, Digg had given her a beautiful pearl handled pocket knife, and Sara, who probably knew her best after Oliver, had gotten her these beautiful white heels that she’d been stalking online. They actually went really well with the dress Thea had gotten her which she did not think was a coincidence. Her mother’s gift to her was that she had traded shifts with a few girls at work and had come up for a few days for graduation. She couldn’t stay to see her walk unfortunately but it had felt good to see her mom for a few days. Her favorite gift though was what Anatoly had sent her. It was her least expensive gift but the one she loved the most. It was a small pair of sterling silver bird stud earrings. They weren’t dainty or expensive but it was the small homage to Anatoly’s nickname for her that had made her tear up and hug him when he had given them to her. She still remembered what he had whispered to her as she had hugged him.

“I wish you could always be this happy маленькая птица but life is not always so kind.”

It had felt like he was trying to warn her but of what she still didn’t know. Shaking her head to rid herself of negative thoughts she slipt on her new dress and heels and headed back to her bathroom to look in her full length mirror. She had to admit to herself that she looked nice. She had left her hair down and had done her makeup like it was any other day but without her glasses it looked like she had done more than she actually had. The dress, which had a plunging neckline, sat nicely on her figure and would have looked like too much if it wasn’t for it’s color and full skirt that fell at mid thigh. After giving herself a nod of approval and slipping in her bird earrings she made her way to the living room where her cap and gown were waiting. It was time to graduate.

* * *

She hadn’t been expecting much when she walked across the stage to receive her diploma. The yells and cheering from her small group of friends had been unexpected but much appreciated. It was when she was shaking the dean’s hand and turned towards the audience to glance at her friends that she saw him.

There situated between Digg and Roy was Oliver.

He had somehow made it back for her graduation. He looked the same except now he was sporting a substantial amount of scruff. And he was smiling and yelling along with everyone else. That above everything else made her face light up with a huge smile as she continued walking across the stage. It was probably because she was so excited about seeing Oliver that she didn’t notice Cooper standing not to far behind her friends or the old flip phone held in his hand. All of this went unnoticed as Felicity tried to hurry down the stage. The sooner this was over the sooner she could greet her best friend. She was in such a hurry that she completely missed shaking her adviser's hand and had to double back to shake it. Her adviser had been her scholastic rock these past four years. It was the act of doubling back and not going down the stairs that probably saved Felicity’s life.

She had had one foot on the stairs when she caught a glance of her adviser in her periphery and turned back around to shake her hand. Just as she turned around and had taken a couple of steps there was huge explosion and she was thrown forward from the force of the blast.

It was the sound of people screaming and someone calling her name that made her come to. Her ears were still ringing and her vision was blurred by blood. She raised her hand to her head and felt the sticky substance running down from a wound near her forehead. Again she heard her name frantically being yelled. Opening her mouth she tried to yell back and instead of speaking she started coughing. Huge wracking coughs shook her as she tried to get her bearings. Still she could hear her name being called. As she looked around she noticed the smoke that was also making her eyes water and what felt like the heat of a fire somewhere very close by. When she tired to move she noticed the weight on her legs and on her left arm from the debris of the stage. Panic finally started setting in and that’s when she broke through her cough and started calling back.

“I’m here! Over here! Please! Help! I can’t...I can’t breathe!” Panic was making her short of breath and that was not helping her lungs that were still trying to expel the smoke she must have inhaled. Suddenly she felt the vibrations of someone’s foot steps and she craned her neck to see Digg and Oliver trying to make their way to her.

Relief flooded her and more tears started falling as they got closer. The last thing she remembered before she passed back out was Oliver getting to her and trying to lift the debris off her legs.

* * *

Constant beeping is what finally woke her. Opening her eyes was difficult. They felt gritty and heavy and when she tried to lift her arm to rub at her eyes she felt the tug of an IV.

It took a couple minutes but her eyes finally listened to her and opened. The first thing she did was look around. Her eyes darted around the room she found herself in quickly taking in all the equipment and the IV. She didn’t know how long she’d been out. Her mind was still cloudy with sleep and possibly hospital issued drugs and it was making it hard for her to recall anything past the explosion at graduation.

The sound of the door opening caused her to turn her head just in time to see a man she did not recognize walking in. She took in his tailored suit and his graying hair quickly. She would have called him distinguished if it wasn’t for the eye patch laying over one of his eyes. It would have caused trepidation if it wasn’t for the fact that Anatoly walked in right behind him. She also caught a quick glimpse of Digg, Oliver, Sara, and Roy in the hall before the door was closed.

Silence with the interruption of what she now knew was her heart monitor was all that was heard for a few minutes. She didn’t know why they were here so she waited them out. Years getting to know Oliver had given her a healthy dose of patience and she used that to her advantage at this moment. Finally Anatoly spoke.

“маленькая птица it is good to see you awake. You had us worried.”

It took a few tries before she could get her throat to work and even then what came out of her mouth was an extremely raspy version of her voice.

“How long have I been here? And where is here? Do you know who set the bomb off? How many people were hurt? When can I leave? What’s-”

“маленькая птица. Calm down. You’ve only been here for two days and here is still Cambridge. As for your questions about the bomb that’ll be answered by Mr. Slade Wilson here. маленькая птица I’d like you to meet the Pakhan.” Anatoly gently stated.

Quickly her eyes swiveled to Mr. Wilson as he took a seat in the empty chair to her left. She had been nervous when he first came in thinking he was a very well dressed doctor but finding out he was the head of the brotherhood made her even more nervous. “Hello Ms. Smoak. I’ve heard many things about you from my dear friend Anatoly. Now I know you have questions. Probably some new ones now as well considering I’m here. Is there anything else you’d like to know before I start?” Mr. Wilson questioned.

Felicity just blinked and asked the first question that had popped in her head even before the soft spoken Pakhan started speaking. “Wilson isn’t Russian is it?”

Laughter soon erupted from the Pakhan. That laugh startled a squeak past her lips and surprised look from Anatoly’s face.

“Yes I see why the kid likes you.” She heard him whisper to himself before he turned serious and began to explain in Russian.

“ _My name is Wilson in the States. I do not travel here under my real name. Your government does not like me much I believe. Now for your other questions. The bomb was made for you. A little token from your old lover Cooper Sheldon. It seems the bomb was bigger than he expected because he did not expect so many casualties. Everyone in the front of the stage was injured but they are alive. Only two deaths were caused. Both were professors who were just too close to the explosion. My men were able to catch Mr. Sheldon and from the information my men..let us say gathered...from him he was tasked with the job to kill you after his cover was blown at the beginning of the year. It seems that you have quite the little bounty on your head from the Triad Ms. Smoak. It makes me wonder who’s specific money you took all those years ago when you broke your way into their system...but I digress. It seems our protection alone is no longer enough to keep you safe so I have deemed it necessary to bring you entirely into the Bratva.”_ All of this was said in a soft voice with a slight accent as Mr. Wilson stared at Felicity unblinkingly.

Felicity was confused and lost. She...she didn’t know how she felt. So many emotions were twirling in her mind but the one in the forefront was fear. Not the residual fear of almost being blown up or even the fear of what they had to do to Cooper to have him willingly give this information. No it was the fear that when Mr. Wilson said 'bring her into the Bratva' it meant something possibly sinister.

_“I think I need you to explain what being brought into the Bratva entails Mr. Wilson.”_ Felicity whispered hoarsely. She felt the need to be cautious around this man. It seemed in the presence of this man her habit of rambling disappeared. Which was good because she had the feeling that she needed to think before she spoke with him.

_“I was told you were incredibly smart Ms. Smoak. I am glad to see that is not an exaggeration. We of course have people who have come to work for the Bratva and who are just as loyal as anyone born into our organization. You were not only not born into the Bratva, you also came to us out of fear and not loyalty. What’s to stop you from turning on us? Now I’ve heard a great many things about you Ms. Smoak and I’d like to think I know your moral character so I will tell you know you will not like what I have to say but you will do it. Because if you don’t Ms. Smoak you will find that not only will you have the Triad to worry about but also the Bratva. Do you understand?”_ Mr. Wilson was leaning uncomfortably close to her face now but was still talking in that misleading soft voice. She understood now how he was able to keep such control over his organization. She quickly nodded her head not trusting her voice to not shake in fear.

“ _Good_ ,” he stated as he finally leaned back into the seat. “ _To be brought into our fold, especially in this capacity, Ms. Smoak is an honor. I hope you will treat it as such. I have recently decided that America has gotten too big for dear Anatoly to control so I will be splitting his dominion in half. He will now only have control of the east and a new капитан will be instated for the west side. I have groomed this young man for a year for this position and Anatoly himself gave him to me. However no new капитан can just come in and assume control. It will be long hard work and this is where you will come in. He will need a partner. Someone to watch his back. You will be his partner in all ways Felicity Smoak. You will become his wife and in this way will I bring you into the fold and guarantee your faithfulness to the brotherhood.”_ With that Mr. Wilson stood and walked towards the door. _“You will do as you are told Ms. Smoak. Please remember that. Anatoly will fill you in on details.”_ With that final sentence he walked out leaving Felicity feeling as though her world had now imploded.

Turning scared and tear filled eyes to the man she thought of as an Uncle she begged him with her face to explain.

_“Oh маленькая птица how I hate that look on your face. I am so sorry. The new captain is not a cruel man. You’ll spend a few more days in here and when you are well you will be flown out to Starling City on the west coast with your fiancé. We’ve set you up with a nice entry job at Queen Consolidated since we have ties there. I figured you wouldn’t want more special treatment then you are already going to get. Once in Starling your fiancé’s family will be the ones who announce everything. Mr. Wilson has some needs that will of course have to be met. You...you are to be married at least two months from when you announce the engagement and he would like... an heir to be provided in the first two years...Oh маленькая птица why did you not come to me first all those years ago!”_ And then the strong and immovable Anatoly started to cry. Tears fell into his hands as he sat wearily and silently sobbed for the death of the life she could have lead if she had never entangled herself with the Triad and the Bratva.

She lay there stunned because for once in her life she saw no way out. She would be hunted by both the Bratva and the Triad if she tried to get out. Once more she heard that wretched door creak open and she turned to see Digg, Sara, and Roy making their way in and walk towards her. But before the door swung closed she caught a glimpse of Mr. Wilson and a few choice words in Russian. He was standing with Oliver and shaking his hand while simultaneously saying, “ _Congratulations kid. You will make a great капитан._ ”

Oliver was going to become her fiancé and then...her husband.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Russian:  
> маленькая птица (little bird)  
> капитан (captain)
> 
> Chinese:  
> Xiǎo niǎo (little bird)


	8. Chapter 7: It's a Little Surreal Right Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hashing out grievances.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An extra chapter this week because I'm on a roll! I've been cranking out some writing this past week and decided that I'm going to post a chapter today and on Tuesday! 
> 
> As usual all mistakes are my own. I edit these chapters pretty quickly so I know there's stuff that gets past me so sorry. Any Russian/any other language will be translated in the end notes. Also anything in Italics is conversations being held in Russian.
> 
> You can click the links bellow to see the Polyvore sets I made for this chapter.   
> [Engagement Outfit](http://www.polyvore.com/got_sinning_on_my_mind/set?id=172813853)  
> [Flying to Starling City](http://www.polyvore.com/got_sinning_on_my_mind/set?id=174136296)

In the week that followed she saw very little of Oliver and if she was being honest with herself she’d liked it that way. She'd seen a few glimpses of him at the hospital before she'd been discharged the day after she woke up. She’d sustained a small concussion, some lacerations, and a sprained ankle from the explosion. She’d been lucky is what she was told. After being discharged Sara had taken her home. Walking into their apartment was so different. Already things had been packed up and half of their living room was in boxes.

Some of the boxes were labeled ‘Sara’ and her’s were labeled ‘Queen Mansion’. She didn’t even deserve her own name on her things. She belonged to the Bratva now. To the Queens. This was her life for now. No. Not for now. This was her life forever. In a few months she would no longer be Felicity Smoak. She would be Felicity Queen.

That week she kept to herself. She stayed in her room and tried to think of a way out. But nothing came to mind. There was **no** way out. There were a quite few sleepless nights that week. Poor Sara didn’t know what to do with her. She tried bribing her, pleading with her, even threatening her. Anything to get her to come out of her room. Anything to hear her speak. Felicity had not uttered a word since leaving the hospital. She was in shock Sara said.

Finally Sara got fed up. But instead of leaving her alone like Felicity had hoped, she’d called in the cavalry. And in this case the cavalry was Oliver.

Felicity was laying in her bed when she heard her bedroom door open. As soon as she heard the first footstep into her room she knew who it was. He didn’t say a word and neither did she. He made his way to the other side of her bed and sat down with his back against the headboard. She was tempted to turn herself around to face him but she couldn’t get her body to listen to her. Instead she stayed facing away. Who knows how many minutes passed before Oliver finally spoke but when he did it finally broke the seal she had in place over her emotions.

“You’re mad and confused. That’s understandable. But you’re acting like this only affects you. This isn’t just on you. This affects me too.”

“Of course this affects you too! Don’t you understand that’s one of the reasons I’m confused?” She asked as she finally sat herself up and faced Oliver who was looking at her with a perfectly blank face. “Why haven’t you done something? I understand that there’s nothing I can do but you have so much more influence! Why haven’t you tried to think of a way out! You’re going to be a капитан for crying out loud!”

Oliver’s blank face started cracking. She could see glimpses of frustration brewing underneath. “I’m supposed to keep you safe маленькая птица! This is the best way to do that. You want to know why I haven’t thought of a way out? Because I don’t want to! This is for the best and if you let yourself just think about it for a minute instead of wallowing around and scaring poor Sara to death you’d see that I’m right!” He passionately stated as his mask completely fell away.

Anger coursed through Felicity. _“What do you mean you don’t want to?! You can’t put you life on hold forever to keep me safe Oliver! This is taking the line of duty way to far! I don’t understand! How does this plan not infuriate you? How can you be ok with any of this?! This is horrible!”_ She had jumped out of her bed and was now standing at the foot of it as she yelled at Oliver in Russian.

But just like the good old Oliver she knew he didn’t just sit there and let her yell at him. No he got up and yelled right back.

_“Horrible? Is that how you see being married to me panning out? You’ll think it’ll be horrible? Well guess what маленькая птица? This wasn’t just some crack pot plan. It was thought out. Slade Wilson was going to marry you off no matter what! Better it be me than some asshole who’s just going to abuse you! And how many times have I told you I’ll do whatever I have to to keep you safe?! Goddammit don’t you get it?”_

_“All I ‘get’ is that you are an idiot! I don’t want this! I hate this plan! I have to get pregnant! What the hell is that? Since when was producing and heir a thing? And I _don’t want you to do whatever you have to to keep me safe! Don’t YOU get it?_ I don’t understand why you feel the need to keep me safe-”_

_“Damn it Felicity! That has nothing to do with you! Not everything is for you or about you! I need to keep you safe for me! It is for me that I am doing this! How do you not understand that?”_

Silence fell in her room as Felicity was struck silent. All that could be heard was their labored breathing. Even the apartment was quiet. If she had to guess, Sara had stepped out once she heard the yelling.

_“Explain,”_ she whispered.

Running his hands through his hair in frustration he whispered back, _“You’re not ready for me to explain that. All you need to know is that I care about you. I have to keep you safe for **my** sanity. If something happened to you… No, all you need to know is that I will do everything in my power to make you as happy in this situation as I can маленькая птица. And the baby thing is my fault, I'm sorry. The Bratva has a lot riding on QC being run by a Queen family member and if we don't have kids then when it comes time for it to be passed along it'll just be bought out by someone else and the Bratva can't have that. This is not the end of your world. Will being my wife and having my baby be so horrible дорогая? Do you hate me?”_

The new nickname surprised her but it was the way that last sentence was uttered so silently almost as an after thought that caused her to run into his arms and hug him as tightly as her bruised body would allow.

_“Oliver I don’t hate you. I’m angry at the situation and being told what I have to do with my own body. I've always wanted a family someday but this is happening a lot quicker than I had planned. Oliver I...I’d be honored to be your wife but you’re going to have to be patient with me. I never saw this happening with us. You’re my friend and that’s all you were ever supposed to be.”_ She felt him stiffen under her arms at that statement but she plowed on, determined that he hear what she had to say. _“I don’t know when you started...caring differently but I’m not there. I’m sorry. Be patient though мой защитник I think I can get there.”_ She gave him a short kiss on his temple and stepped back.

She could feel Oliver’s arms linger around her as though he didn’t want to let go before he stepped back. He was staring at her differently. Well if she was honest not differently. She just knew what the emotion behind that look was now. He turned towards the door. Ready to leave now that they’d hashed out their grievances. Before he left he spoke still facing the door, _“I’m leaving tonight to Starling маленькая птица. I’ve got to get things ready before you come at the end of next week.”_

_“Oh ok. I guess I’ll see you in Starling then.”_ She answered. Now that they were done arguing she felt her body let go of some unknown tension. She was so tired. She turned and walked towards her bed crawling back in expecting Oliver to leave. But once she was settled she saw that Oliver was once again staring at her. He seemed to be contemplating something. Then it seemed he came to a decision. He walked back towards her and sank to his knees on her side of the bed so he could look directly into her eyes.

_“I’ve already told my family that I proposed. Anatoly, Slade, and I thought it would be best if we kept the real details away from as many people as possible. But I can’t have you coming to Starling without a ring so...here.”_ He reached into his pocket and brought out a beautiful ring. He reached across the bed and gently grabbed her left hand and slid the ring onto her ring finger. _“I hope you like it. It reminded me of you.”_ He laid a gentle kiss over the ring and then stood and walked back towards the door.

She heard him utter a short goodbye, _“I’ll see you soon маленькая птица.”_ Then he was gone. She never even looked up. She was too busy looking at the ring on her finger. The setting reminded her of a flower. She didn’t know much about jewelry but she knew as soon as she saw this ring that she loved it. This ring made everything just a little more real. She fell asleep that night staring at her ring and trying to stomp down the butterflies in her stomach.

* * *

The next week was a whirlwind of activities from shopping with Sara for her new job at Queen Consolidated, to packing up her belongings, and even telling her mom she was engaged. That had been hard. Her mother had been happy, confused and even a little hurt when Felicity finally spoke to her.

Her mother had been so worried when she heard about the explosion and had tried so hard to come see her but she couldn’t get off work. Later Felicity learned that the Bratva had something to do with that. They didn’t want her mom to know more than she needed to know and so Felicity had lied to her and told her she wasn’t even that close to the explosion. Donna had been placated but then Diggle had told her she was going to have to tell her about the engagement before she heard about it some other way.

At first she’d been confused….How was her mother going to hear about her engagement any other way? Digg then pointed out how well known the Queens were and how it was going to be big news when Oliver and her attended the gala the Queens were throwing in their honor to announce the engagement. Felicity felt like she’d been thrown another loop. It wasn’t like she wasn’t planning on telling her mom but she’d mentioned Digg and Oliver so little before that there was no way her mother wasn’t going to be suspicious. But she had no choice. So she had gotten on Skype and made sure her left hand was out of frame while she spoke to her mom.

 

*Flashback*

“Felicity! Oh it’s so good to see you nugget! How’s the packing going?” Her mother was flitting around her own room trying to get ready for work while still stopping every few seconds to look at the computer and ask her daughter questions.

“It’s good to see you too mom. And the packing is actually done. I’m moving out at the end of the week so in just two days.” Felicity was trying really hard not to fidget.

“To Starling City right? Isn’t that where you said you’re going sweetheart? You still haven’t told me your new address by the way. Don’t think I haven’t noticed. I know you’ll want to get settled with your new job and everything but I want to come visit you eventually or at the very least send you a housewarming present! But no...You don’t love your dear mame.”

Oh god her mother had brought out the Yiddish. Donna only did that when she felt slighted by Felicity. She knew her mother didn’t mean it but sometimes her insecurities came over her and bled out towards Felicity.

Sighing she tried to get her mother’s attention as she continued fluttering around. “Mom… mom … Mame!” Finally her mother stopped and turned towards the computer. “Can you please sit down in front of the computer. I have something I want to tell you.” She could feel her heart beating out of her chest. She could do this. The trick was to not really lie. If she stuck as close to the truth as possible she wouldn’t have a heart attack.

“What is it nugget?”

“The reason I haven’t told you where I’m living yet is because...I’m...I’m moving in with my boyfriend.” There. That was kind of true. She was moving in with Oliver and he was a boy and also a friend.

“Boyfriend? You mean Roy? I thought you two broke up awhile ago?” Her mother looked confused but she was finally stationery.

She had forgotten that her mother had met Roy and that she had also been lead to believe that they were dating. Shit. “Uh...No. Not Roy. We’re just friends now. Actually he’s moving to Starling as well but not with me. Because we’re not dating. That’s what happens when you break up, you no longer date and-”

“Felicity, breath sweetheart.”

Felicity took a big gulp of air and started playing with her ring under the table. She’d only had for a little while and already it had become a tick. She just start twisting it on her finger.

Letting out her big breath she looked at her mother and asked, “Do you remember Oliver? I think I told you about him once or…”

“Oliver Queen? Yes you met him your freshman year and you have been friends for awhile now. That Oliver? Why is Oliver important? Oh… OH!” And then her mother started squealing. “You’re moving in with Oliver?! You’re dating Oliver?! Wait. What is that on your hand missy!” Her voice had turned from squealing to sharp in a nano second.

When her mother had started squealing Felicity had jumped and covered her ears without even thinking. Donna Smoak had a pair of lungs on her and Felicity’s laptop speakers were on 100%. Thus the covered ears. Thus the fact that her ring was prominently on display.

“You said boyfriend nugget...not fiancé…” Her mother tapered off.

“I was trying to tell you mom but I didn’t know how to explain. It happened so fast! We’ve know each other for four years and the dating just happened and next thing I know he’s proposing and I’m saying yes and I’ve got a job at his family’s company and we’re moving in. I swear it happened so fast mom there wouldn’t have been a point in telling you we were dating because it literally felt like the next second we were engaged!” Felicity spewed hoping to defuse the situation.

Her mother sat their silently and deep in thought. Finally she spoke. “I know you nugget. I’m your mother and you've never lied to be so I believe you but...but I have to ask. What kind of mother would I be if I didn’t ask? This doesn’t have to do with him being a Queen right? Because baby you’re worth so much more than that.”

“Mom, no! No, it has nothing to do with him being a Queen.” That was true. It did have nothing to do with Oliver being a Queen. It had to do with Oliver being in the Bratva. It had to do with tying her life to the Bratva. So far the truth telling was working for her.

“Ok. Ok. Just one more question...Are you sure? Are you one hundred percent positive in this man?” She looked expectantly at her daughter trying to see anything that told her otherwise.

Felicity looked down at her left hand and started twisting her ring again. The truth. She just need to tell the truth. Finally she looked up with tears in her eyes hoping her mother would take them for tears of joy and not what they really were. They were tears for lying to the woman who had taught her love would one day come her way. That she, Felicity Smoak, deserved love.

“There was no choice to make.”

*End Flashback*

Now it was the end of the week and Sara and herself were waiting to be picked up by Digg and Roy. Even though she was moving and getting married into the Bratva she’d been told that since she was going to become a Bratva Wife she was going to need her own bodyguards and to her surprise Roy and Sara had volunteered for the job. She had then wondered out loud why Digg was still here if Roy and Sara were her bodyguards.

Digg had told her that Anatoly had given Digg the choice to go with Oliver as a sign of good faith and then in turn Oliver had made his old mentor his second in command. Apparently Anatoly had done that to show that he was OK with sharing the U.S. with Oliver since there were people who took Slade splitting Anatoly's domain as a bad omen. Digg’s first job from Oliver was to make sure she made it safely to Starling. She had been touched because she could tell that even though Oliver had tasked him with the job he was also doing it because he cared about her.

She looked around the barren apartment one more time just as there was a knock at the door.

“Hey Blondie,” she heard as Roy waltzed in when Sara opened the door. “You ready to go?”

“Yeah…Sara I can get that!” She huffed as she saw Sara pick up her garment back and carry-on.

“Felicity I know you. You would bunch up this beautiful dress and then what would you do tonight at the Gala? You’re about to be introduced as Oliver Queen’s fiancé. A Bratva fiancé. You are not holding this dress.” Sara glared at her as she held the dress away from her.

Sighing she grabbed her purse that held her tablet, wallet, and phone and turned towards Roy. “Alright Abercrombie lead the way.” She shooed Roy and followed him out as Sara brought out the rear.

They climbed into Digg’s waiting SUV and drove to the Boston Logan International Airport. Again Felicity found herself twisting her engagement ring while Sara prattled on about how when they landed in Starling they had to go straight to the mansion and that Oliver better have listened to her and gotten that hairstylist…

Oliver had been texting her since he left last week after their heated conversation. The texts where nothing important just randomly asking her if she was getting everything she needed and how she was doing but she could feel that things still weren't exactly the same as before.

She had even gotten a letter sent to her from him. It had been short and to the point but it had nearly given her a panic attack. It had simply stated, “You’re going to need this маленькая птица. Use it well.” Attached had been a black AMEX card with her name on it. Well her future name. Felicity Queen. That was what had nearly induced the panic attack. She was going to have to change her name on everything. Her driver’s license, her bank account...She was only going to be known as Felicity Smoak for two more months.

All to soon they were at the airport and in the blink of an eye she was on the Queen private jet on her way to Starling City. Tonight was her’s and Oliver’s engagement party. Everyone was very excited to see the woman that had “tamed” Oliver Queen. Robert Queen had already announced his future retirement and the fact that Oliver was going to shadow him to soon take over the family company so this would also help Oliver network. It was a big night and to say Felicity was nervous was an understatement.

Eventually she fell asleep and then, what only felt like minutes later, she was being shaken by Sara saying they were here. She looked out the window and saw the city’s landscape. Her new home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:  
> маленькая птица (little bird)  
> капитан (captain)  
> дорогая (My darling)  
> мой защитник (my protector)  
> mame (mom-yiddish)


	9. Chapter 8: It's Not Easy Being a Princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Engagement Gala

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go guys! Updated on Tuesday like promised. Again mistakes are my own and anything in Russian is translated in the end notes. I fell into a bit of a slump after I initially wrote this chapter because this story started going in a completely different direction than when I had first started it. Now however I'm back in my groove and am pumping out this story like no other! So enjoy ya'll!
> 
> Polyvore link for Felicity's gala look is [HERE](http://www.polyvore.com/got_sinning_on_my_mind/set?id=173050105)! Take a look!

Butterflies were flying around in her stomach non stop. Oh she was going to puke. It was going to happen. And with her luck she’d puke on her beautiful gown and then she’d have to go downstairs in a simple plain dress and she’d be laughed at and... oh gosh she was going to throw up.

Taking deep breaths she started pacing the room, clenching and unclenching her gown then smoothing out the non existent wrinkles. She’d been in here since they landed in Starling. They’d gone straight to the mansion from the airport and once there she’d been met by Moira and Thea, Oliver’s mother and sister.

She had heard so much about Moira that she was ready to encounter a dragon lady but instead she’d been met by a kind gentle lady who had enveloped her in a Chanel No.5 scented hug and who kept saying how happy she was “her Oliver” had found someone to calm his wild ways and bring him fully into the family business. She also kept mentioning how grateful she was that Felicity had helped him graduate from Harvard. Felicity had tried to explain to her that she’d only helped a few times but Moira wouldn’t hear of it.

It had been great to finally meet Thea face to face however. And for a few glorious minutes she felt her nerves fall away until Thea turned to Sara and they started talking about what all had to get done before this evening. From there she’d been whisked away upstairs to “relax” for an hour before the preparations began. She had been placed in a room and left to her own devices. It was the same room she was in now.

It was Oliver’s room. And also her’s but that had taken her a bit to figure out. She had started walking around and looking at everything thinking how huge this room was for one person. It looked as though it was the size of her old apartment. She’d had to go the bathroom soon after she was placed in here and had accidentally walked into the closet first. The closet itself had been bigger than her old bedroom. She had stood in there looking at Oliver’s suits, jeans, button downs, henleys, and t-shirts for what felt like forever until she finally noticed that all of his stuff was only on one side. She had then turned and seen all of her own things that had been shipped here in the middle of the week hanging on the opposite side. There they were just hanging domestically with Oliver’s. She had ended up plopping on the ground and just staring at their things just mingled together until it clicked that this wasn’t Oliver’s room. This was their room.

Eventually she had gotten herself together enough that she found the bathroom. Which of course was also huge. There was a bench in the walk in shower. A freakin bench. She didn’t want to think about the reasoning for that bench. After the bathroom she had begun to really look at the room with a critical eye. It didn’t really scream Oliver to her. The room was warm. Warm accents everywhere. If she was to put a personality to the room it would be her own not Oliver’s. Until she had pulled back the soft beige comforter and saw the deep green silk sheets. Now those screamed Oliver.

She tried to ignore the sheets as she laid down and surprisingly took a nap. She must have been more tired than she had thought. Next thing she knew she was being shaken awake by Sara and Thea and shoved back into the bathroom. She was told to strip and shower. At this point she knew better than to argue. She made herself not think about the fact that all her toiletries were already in the bathroom next to Oliver’s things. She showered quickly and slipped on the robe that was laid next to the sink for her.

Once she stepped back into the room it was mayhem for hours. She was buffed and waxed and only allowed to eat small amounts of food. As soon as one person was done with her another was in their place. She had her hair done, her toes done, her nails done, and her makeup done by four different people! It took all of her willpower to not burst into tears of frustration. None of this was her. Yes it was nice. She was adult enough to admit that but this wasn’t a one time thing. This was her life now. Her life that she had had no say in.

And now hours later here she was. In a beautiful gown that she never would have pictured herself in a million years. It was black lace and sheer grey fabric. Add the smokey eyes and her red lips and she felt stunning but she could barely focus on that. The time on her phone now read 9:30 pm. Oliver would be here soon and they would walk downstairs to a bunch of people she’d never seen in her life and she had to be perfect. No one could know that this engagement and soon-to-be marriage was a sham. She had to be the perfect woman for the newly instated Bratva captain and for herself. Because even though it was never stated, she knew that if things went wrong she would suddenly "disappear". The Bratva knew she knew too much and now she knew that as well.

Suddenly the door to the room creaked open. She was facing the window so she didn’t see who came in but she had a pretty good guess. Turning slowly she saw Oliver eliminated by the lights in the hallway. His face was in shadow so she couldn’t tell what he thought of her from his facial response but if the way he was nervously rubbing his thumb and finger together he was just as nervous as her.

“Hi,” she whispered suddenly shy. She’d never been shy around Oliver but with him standing in the suddenly hot room in a tuxedo she found herself flustered around him for the first time.

“маленькая птица...you look beautiful,” Oliver stated as he walked towards her offering her his arm. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” she murmured as she took his arm and they began to make their way out of the room.

Silently they made their way down the hall and down the stairs as they walked towards the ball room. ‘What kind of house has a ball room?’ She fleetingly thought as they made their way towards the entrance.

“Breath and smile Felicity,” Oliver whispered as they finally walked in.

* * *

The evening was going well. At least she thought so, as she waited with a group of women for Oliver to finish talking shop with their husbands.

They had automatically been greeted by Oliver’s mother and father upon entering the room. There had been so many air kisses and flash bulbs going off that she had barely noticed that Oliver never really let go of her elbow as she was paraded around the room by Moira and Robert. It seemed everyone had heard of the 'beautiful smart blonde' that had ‘wrangled in’ Oliver Queen.

She had to stop herself countless times from flinching anytime someone mentioned that. Oliver wasn’t a fish that she had ‘caught’. Of course none of these people knew that this was practically an arranged marriage and it would have to stay that way. If anyone in the Bratva, who was not happy with Oliver being their new boss, even believed his life may be a bit unstable...well it would not be good. They would be like sharks smelling blood in the water.

Everywhere she went she felt eyes on her and Oliver. She tired her best to make it look like they were happy. Thankfully it wasn’t hard. Once Oliver and her let go of some of the awkwardness that seemed to perpetually surround them now, she found that she was actually having a good time.

They had been dancing and she had been trying to keep a smile on her face when Oliver had leaned in and started whispering in her ear. It had been ridiculous things. He had kept pointing out the most absurd traits of anyone dancing in their vicinity. That lady neighed like a horse when she laughed-then the most hilarious horse like laugh would erupt from said ladies lips. That man liked to be blindfolded and whipped and told he was a bad boy-not by the woman on his arm but by the woman’s brother that watched on from the sidelines.

Everything he whispered to her was more and more ludicrous and he soon had her bursting with so much laughter that his hold on her tightened so she wouldn’t bend in half from trying to catch her breath. The smile she gave him and the smile she received in answer were no longer forced. If anyone had thought they didn’t care for each other before...well those thoughts had very well been eradicated with the way they were now glowing in each other’s company.

Soon after that though they had to begin networking. Felicity knew what her new job entailed. She was meant to not only look good but also bring pride to Oliver as a leader of the Bratva. She was expected to look pretty and agree with her soon-to-be husband is really what that entailed.

She was surprised and thankful that Oliver, however, didn’t expect her to be just a pretty bobble head.

After introducing her to a few business associates she noticed that the men would abruptly switch over to Russian and expect her to just stand at Oliver’s side. Oliver, however, would turn towards her and ask her input every single time. She would quickly respond in Russian because of course she was listening and of course she had an opinion. She knew how the Bratva worked. How could she not after almost four years of working for them? This was Oliver’s way of saying to her and to them that she was important and she appreciated the effort.

Now, however, she had been pulled aside by some of the Bratva wives and if she didn’t know better she would think her IQ was being lowered just by being in their presence. All they cared about was were she had gotten her dress. Who had done her hair? What shoes was she wearing? What organizations was she planning on joining now that she was here in Starling? That one had brought her up short.

She turned to Candy (Yes her name was Candy and she was about 20 or 30 years younger than her husband. Gross.) and asked her to repeat the question.

“What organizations are you going to join? I personally like the Starling City Women’s Association. We meet every Monday at La Petite Rivière. It’s the cutest little french restaurant on the upper side. You’ll love it. I’m sure Moira will want you to join some of her organizations as well but are there any you’re interested in?” Candy simpered while she blinked an abnormal amount. Felicity though she might have been trying to flutter her eyelashes but it just looked like she was trying to keep her fake eyelashes on.

“Well...I don’t know that I’ll have time to join any organizations…” Felicity carefully stated as she looked at the waiting faces of the other wives.

“Well,” Alina exclaimed (Alina was the one in the too tight purple monstrosity that kept trying to catch Oliver’s eye. She was so far unsuccessful.) “Of course not right now. You have to worry about the wedding now. I still can’t believe it’s only two months away!” She said while shooting inquisitive looks at Felicity’s stomach.

Thank god her dress was tight. It gave no illusion that she was hiding a non-existent baby bump underneath the fabric. “Yes there’s the wedding but I’m positive Thea has almost completely taken the planning over. I just have to show up places and agree or disagree,” she chuckled as the women looking on also chuckled. Thea Queen was infamous for taking the reigns when planning something and just completely taking over. At least she’d never failed in her duties.

“But I’ve still got my job as well so I don’t know how much free time I’ll have.” Felicity explained as the wives suddenly turned silent. They shot themselves questioning looks and finally it was deemed that Candy would once again speak for them.

“Felicity. Dear. You don’t have to work anymore you know that right? You’re going to be a Bratva wife.” Candy whispered glancing over to the men as though what they were talking about was blasphemous.

“I know I’m going to be a Bratva wife. But I’m still going to work. There’s a reason I got a degree and that was to use it. Oliver knows this. I’m even going to be working at QC.” Felicity bristled. That had actually been the only full discussion they had had this past week. Oliver had informed her that she'd been hunted down by another department in QC and had almost bullied the IT Department to let them have her.

Alana decided it was now her turn to speak. “Darling there’s no possible way Oliver is going to be ok with you working. Your job is soon going to consist of pleasing your husband and how will you do that if you’re in some office Monday through Friday? No. You should just get rid of that silly thought of working out of your silly little head.”

Felicity had never felt so insulted. What had happened to feminism? Girl power? Since when were they back in the 1950s? Just as she was about to open her mouth and probably say something that would have been horridly rude she felt Oliver walk up behind her and twine his arms around her waist.

“What are you ladies talking about so intensely?” He asked while nuzzling closer to Felicity and making them look like a picture perfect couple.

Alana again stepped in while simultaneously thrusting her cleavage in Oliver’s direction. However since Oliver had wrapped himself around Felicity she was the one that got the brunt of Alana’s little show. “Oh Oliver! We were just explaining to Felicity that now that she’s going to be one of us there’s no need for that little old job she has. You’re going to need her at your side. I tried to explain as best as I could that a man of your caliber has certain needs from the many women in his life,” she simpered.

Felicity again felt herself bristling not only at the fact that these women expected her to be a trophy wife but also at the insinuation that Oliver was going to be having women on the side of their marriage. She didn’t care if this was arranged or not. These cows didn’t know that! Oliver must have felt how close she was to exploding because he tightened his hold before he spoke, “Actually I'm perfectly happy that Felicity has a job at QC. I'll get to see her more if she's there than if she was at home all day. And it's more than perfectly suitable for someone of her status as, not only my soon-to-be-wife but also,  someone who graduated the top of her class and was head hunted by every major company in the United States. I knew who I proposed to and never in a million years would I expect Felicity to be at my beck and call. And I don’t appreciate you insinuating that I will be having affairs. First of all that’s tacky Alana. No one mentions to your face that your husband has about three illegitimate children running around. Second of all why would I even think about cheating on my fiancé. I just got her why would I ruin a perfect thing? So if you’ll excuse us now.” And with that Oliver escorted her away from the dumbfounded wives of the Bratva.

“Thank you. If I had to talk to those cows for one more minute I would not have been held responsible for my actions.” Felicity exhaled as Oliver reached the bar and ordered her a drink.

Oliver smirked at her as a very feminine voice from behind her spoke, “Oh 'cows'. That’s the perfect name for them. I like it. And what pray tell would you have done?”

Without even thinking for the first time tonight Felicity spoke her mind. “Oh I would have frozen all their credit cards and then possibly hacked into their accounts and made some very odd purchases. Like maybe a boat load of manure or even better crates full of creepy sex toys that the media would have somehow gotten wind of...” She responded honestly as she came face to face with a beautiful Russian woman.

The woman gave a husky chuckle as she looked behind her towards Oliver and said, “Oh you have found the perfect woman for you at last Queen. She can stand her own. Good choice.”

“Thank you Isabel.” Felicity heard from behind her.

Oliver then moved to stand at her side as he handed her a glass of champagne. “Felicity,” Oliver chuckled as he tried to speak around his laughter, “This is Isabel Rochev. She’s the head of Applied Science at QC and she’s also going to be your boss.”

Felicity felt her face redden in embarrassment. There was no way that her reddened cheeks were not visible.

“Oh don’t worry dear. I headhunted you myself and then I found out you were positively coming to QC. I was a bit disappointed when I found out you were going to be an IT grunt but I spoke to Oliver and Robert after talking to your boss in IT and convinced them to let me have you.” Isabel smiled as she tipped her glass towards them. “And I do believe I’ve spotted someone I’ve been looking for all night. Goodbye.” With a pat of Felicity’s shoulder she was gone.

“Oh my god Oliver!” Felicity squeaked as she swatted at him. “Why didn’t you tell me who that was before I just embarrassed myself like that! I talked about sex toys for goodness sake!” Felicity could still feel her flushed cheeks beating.

Oliver finally let out a burst of laughter as he looked down at her. “How was I supposed to know what you were going to say? And it’s fine. If anything I think that made Isabel like you more. She likes smart people.” Oliver gently smiled at her as Felicity let her forehead rest on Oliver’s chest as she continued murmuring to herself about dying from embarrassment.

“Come on. You look tired. I think we’re done here now.” Oliver said as he steered her towards the entrance of the ballroom. They’d been here for hours. If the giant clock on the wall was to be believed it was now close to one in the morning.

Out of nowhere Thea appeared before they could make their getaway.

“Ollie, dad wants you in the study. Looks like a bunch of bigwigs in there. Oh were you leaving Felicity?” She asked as she passed along the message from Robert.

“Yeah I’m pretty exhausted. You know I did fly in from across the country today.” Felicity smiled weakly. Now that Oliver had offered her the chance to go to bed Felicity could feel her energy leaving her.

“Oh of course! Here I’ll take you up. I’m done with these people anyway. Shoo Ollie. I’ve got her.” With that Thea wrapped herself around Felicity’s arm and yanked her away from Oliver.

Next thing she knew she was in her and Oliver’s room being helped out of her gown by Thea. She quickly grabbed the robe that was still laying on the bed and quickly slipped it on as Thea hung the dress up in the closet.

“Ok I’ll leave you to sleep. Good night Felicity.” Thea gave her a soft kiss on her cheek and walked back out the door.

Letting out a breath Felicity trudged towards the bathroom to rid herself of her makeup and contacts. There was a little container filled with makeup removers next to her designated sink. After the removal of her war paint and her contacts she slipped on her glasses and walked back into the room. Earlier today when she’d been getting ready she had been sat down in front of a beautiful vanity table and that’s where she sat herself down now as she took off her jewelry and placed it in her jewelry box. Next came the tedious job of undoing her hair do. She felt like she was taking bobby pins out of her hair forever. Eventually she had a nice little pile that she swiped into a little container also on the table.

She still wasn’t sure where all her clothes were and where Oliver’s clothes was so instead of trying to dig for pajamas she made her way to her little carry on from her flight earlier today. She took out the pajamas she had worn on her last night at her old apartment and slipped them on. 

Soon she was slipping into the smooth silk sheets of the bed and in the blink of an eye she was out for the count. She never heard Oliver slip in an hour later. Didn’t hear him pitter around the room getting ready to go to bed as she had. She never felt him stop by her side of the bed and just look at her for no longer than a few seconds. And she most definitely never felt him kneel beside her head and brush back her hair from her forehead and kiss her there. Never felt him linger with his hand cupped around her cheek and letting out a long sigh. She didn’t even feel when the bed dipped on the opposite side as Oliver finally slipped in and also went to bed. She never heard, sensed, or felt any of what happened after she fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> маленькая птица-Little Bird


	10. Chapter 9: Arguments are Easy; They Clear the Air

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone tries evasion tactics.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Ya'll! As usual mistakes are my own, anything in italics is Russian, and any actual Russian/any other language will be translated in the end notes.
> 
> Below are my Polyvore links!  
> [First Day At Work](http://www.polyvore.com/igsomm_chapter_arguments_are_easy/set?id=175204557)  
> [Bedroom Argument](http://www.polyvore.com/igsomm_chapter_arguments_are_easy/set?id=175204614)
> 
> Enjoy!

It had been two weeks since the gala that had thrust Felicity into her new life. She had woken up the next day to find Oliver already up and gone. Not surprising since when she turned over and saw the time, she saw that it was close to noon. She must have been more tired than she had thought. That first full day she spent in bed. She didn’t move except to let Thea into the room at one point when she came in bearing food and the biggest binder she’d ever seen in her life.

It was the 'wedding binder from hell', at least that's what Felicity dubbed it in her head. In it there was everything and anything you would ever need to pick for a wedding and since, honestly, Felicity couldn’t care less about her impending marriage she stopped Thea from going further into detail when she opened the demon binder. She gave her full reign. She could’ve sworn Thea was going to have a heart attack from the sheer excitement that she was trying desperately to hold in. She told Thea the only say she wanted in the entire thing is that it stay classy and elegant and that she be allowed to pick out her own dress.

Felicity didn’t want to be forced to walk down the aisle in some poofy couture monstrosity. Thea readily agreed and kissed her cheeks multiple times before running out of the room. She came back quickly though. Sticking her head back in and informing her that they were going dress shopping next week.

That day was the only day of calm Felicity had. The rest of the week was spent with Moira dragging her to every home of the 'creme de la creme' in Starling. She didn’t know at first why she was doing it and when she figured it out she almost burst into laughter. Sara **had** burst into laughter when Felicity had explained it to her. Apparently Moira was extremely glad that Felicity was a college graduate and from MIT of all schools. Every single home they visited was a “friend” of Moira’s. And it just so happened that every single one of those friends had a daughter around Oliver’s age and sometimes not so close to Oliver’s age. Hell there was one woman who was closer to Moira’s age and she had no daughter at all. That one had taken her awhile to figure out. She had finally gotten it when said woman continued to stare daggers at her whenever Moira turned her head. Moira was parading her around to show the other socialites that Felicity was the woman Oliver had chosen and not one of their own. It was oddly endearing.

Still, thank god that only lasted a week. But as soon as Moira was done with her she was taken by Thea who had apparently decided that the best way to get the few opinions she needed from Felicity was to dedicate a full three days to wedding prep. The entire first day of her capture was spent eating. They spent half the day at some famous chef’s restaurant being plied with food. The only say Felicity even had in the entire thing was no nuts. Other than that little bit of information the chef spent the entire time talking to Thea in rapid fire French.

After that the rest of the day was spent at a bakery where again the only say Felicity had was to tell the baker no nuts. Felicity had felt so sick when she’d gotten back to the mansion that she had skipped dinner and gone straight to bed. The next day was no better. Then entire next day was spent going to florists, venues, and having an actual audition for her wedding band because apparently a dj was lowbrow. Just when Felicity thought there was nothing else that could possibly be done for this stupid wedding Thea dragged her out on the third day to try on dresses. Apparently she couldn’t wait.

That one had been hard for her. Felicity had been doing so well with being dragged around by Moira and then Thea but as soon as Thea had forced her into her exact nightmare, a puffy couture monstrosity, she finally broke down.

Huge tears were rolling down her face as she sat in the dressing room refusing to come out for Thea. Eventually Sara jimmied the door and slipped in.

“What’s wrong?” Sara asked as she took a look around the spacious dressing room trying to find the source of Felicity’s apparent break down.

“Sara I don’t think I can do this. This-this isn’t me. This is too much. God this wedding is a total sham but do you know what my first thought was when I put on this stupid dress? That my mom wasn’t here to see it. AND IT’S UGLY! All I can think of is that my mom isn’t going to be here to see me in the first wedding dress I ever try on.” Felicity whispered fiercely as she promptly broke out into more tears.

“Ok, ok. I can fix this!” Sara exclaimed as she popped up from her kneeled position in front of Felicity. “Give me your tablet.” Sara demanded.

“What? Why? How are you going to fix this?” Felicity asked as Sara sauntered back out of the room.

Sara came through. Just like she said she would. After only 15 minutes of wallowing Sara came back in and picked Felicity off the floor cleaned her face and told her to go out to the showing area. And when she did there was Thea holding her tablet where her mom was staring through via Skype.

That had promptly made Felicity start crying again which triggered her mother, which then triggered Thea, and then oddly enough also caused the shopping attendant to also tear up. Thank god Thea and her mother vetoed the dress she was in as soon as they all stopped crying.

She tried on dresses for hours until eventually Sara drifted away while her mom and Thea argued about shapes and fabric and things Felicity had no idea about. Sara came back holding another dress and shushed her with a wink and a finger to her lips and ushered Felicity back into the dressing room.

If Felicity could have picked her dream dress this would be it. And of course Sara, the one who had completely revamped Felicity’s wardrobe with pieces Felicity didn’t even know she needed and loved, was the one who found it. Sara actually teared up.

“Hey! No tears from you missy. You’re supposed to be my stoic bodyguard.” Felicity had laughed as she brushed away her own tears.

When she stepped out her mother and Thea both stopped talking. All that was heard was Donna’s soft spoken, “Baby…”

Thea shot up out of her seat whispering to herself about chiffon, beaded necklines, keyhole backs, and covered buttons. Then she started talking to the attendant about alterations and their tight time frame and next thing Felicity knew she had a wedding dress.

Once Thea was done with her again Felicity thought she would have some time to herself or at the very least speak to Oliver who she hadn’t seen since the gala. But no. Because the next person to whisk her away was Robert. At least these outings were beneficial.

Robert found her the day after she found her wedding dress sitting in the kitchen enjoying a cup of coffee in silence. He had made himself a cup of coffee as well and asked her if she’d like to tour QC that day. She had jumped at the opportunity thinking it would take up her morning and then she could pitter around the mansion.

Of course she was wrong. After rushing upstairs and putting on business appropriate clothes, Robert and herself made their way to QC. The quick tour was however not quick. Robert felt the need to take her from the bottom of QC (the mail room), then through every single department.

They barely even finished! If you want to call skipping the CEO floor finishing. They got to the floor where she would be working with Isabel and next thing she knew it was time to go back to the mansion. Except Robert had a business dinner and wouldn’t you know it he invited Felicity to go along. So she went to Robert’s business dinner where, thank goodness, Isabel was also present along with the head of each department in Applied Science. Isabel and Robert both made sure to keep her in the loop, not that they had to try to hard. The business meeting was about the possibility of buying the schematics for a security system. Once Felicity got a look at the schematics on Isabel's phone she had questions. Pertinent questions.

And the company dining with QC and trying to sell the system ignored her, at first. They probably thought she was Robert’s side piece if the few snide looks she got were any indication. Finally Isabel introduced her as the head of digital projects at Applied Science. All of a sudden they were falling over each other trying to answer her questions. The more they explained the more Felicity disliked their entire idea especially when she heard how much they were trying to sell it to QC for.

Apparently her dislike was apparent on her face because eventually Isabel leaned over and whispered in her ear, “I’m guessing it’s a no from the look on your face?”

Felicity nodded her head as she continued to frown at the flustered men in front of her. Next thing she knew it was close to midnight and Robert and her were saying their goodbyes. Once back at the mansion Felicity dragged herself upstairs only to find Oliver already asleep on his side of the bed. Felicity frowned. She had wanted to talk to him but again she was thwarted. She had barely seen Oliver since she’d moved to Starling. What was the point of living here, and in the same room even, if she never saw him? The whole point was for them to get used to the idea of being married to each other and if this was a sign of what her marriage was going to be like with Oliver then she was going to be very lonely.

Still frowning and also now a little mad Felicity put on her pajamas and turned towards the couch in their room.

It was dumb and even a little childish but Felicity didn’t want to sleep next to Oliver tonight. Not if this was how he was going to deal with her, by just ignoring her. She had hoped that since they had been friends before this happened to them that they could bring that friendship into their engagement and then marriage but it looked like she was wrong.

As she got comfortable on the couch and drew the throw blanket that was always there around herself she thought back to the gala. He had been like his old self then. He had made her laugh and had smiled at her when she went on a ramble; he had stayed by her side and kept her quiet company when she needed it and she had gripped his hand when he had gotten angry to ground him. What had happened since that night to make her suddenly irrelevant?

* * *

 

The next morning she woke up to find herself in their warm bed. Oliver must have moved her here either sometime last night or this morning before he left. Of course he was already gone. Who knew when that man woke up.

Slowly Felicity got herself ready for work. She had seen what the women wore to work yesterday but Felicity wasn’t a fan of drab colors at work. If the work space was already going to be so monochromatic why should she? A little color never hurt anyone. She’d wear monochromatic colors some other time but not for her first day at work.

So instead of going towards all her black pencil skirts that Sara had sworn she’d need she went for a coral lace pencil dress. Still in the pencil family it would definitely bring color to her day. She color coordinated from there and soon she had her hair slicked back in her favorite ponytail and headed downstairs for a cup of coffee before heading out. She was running early but she needed to stop by the security desk and pick up her work ID and drop off some paperwork at HR before heading up to Applied Science.

She found Sara waiting for her in the kitchen dressed in what she guessed was her bodyguard uniform. Black dress pants, black button down shirt, black ankle boots, and Sara’s trusty leather jacket.

Sara handed her a thermos of coffee and whistled as soon as she got a full look at Felicity. “Don’t you look all corporate. And pretty. Though lets be honest you’d look pretty in a paper bag. You ready for your first day in the corporate world?”

Felicity hummed yes as she took a big swig of her coffee. “Thank you but I think you’re biased because you want in my pants. And we are definitely going to have to stop for more coffee on the way. Lets go!”

With that Felicity lead the way towards the front door and slipped on her cream coat and picked up her bag, both of which she had laid there before going towards the kitchen, while Sara checked to see if Roy had pulled the car around. Once in the back seat she had Roy drive to the closest Starbucks already halfway done with her thermos.

After their coffee run, where she refused to let either Roy or Sara get her order, they headed towards QC.

Felicity’s first day went nothing like she expected. She had expected to really have to work hard to prove herself for many reasons. One she was a woman in a man dominated field; two she was engaged to the man who was everyone’s boss or would be as soon as Robert completely stepped down; three she was fresh out of college and yes that college was MIT but that didn’t take away from the fact that she had no experience under her belt.

She couldn’t have been more wrong however. She was accepted into Applied Science with open arms. Everyone was so kind and actually listened to her and there were people who forgot for just a few blessed minutes that she was engaged to Oliver.

There was Barry Allen who was an all around man. He dabbled in every sub-department in AS. There was also Dr. Caitlin Snow who worked in the medical department coming up with antidotes andcreating medical equipment. Her husband Ronnie was an engineer in, of course, the engineering department. Among them was also Cisco Roman who would be working with her in making her projects become realities as would the other member of her team, Ray Palmer.

All these people were so nice and if it wasn’t for Caitlin asking about her engagement ring they probably would’ve quickly forgotten who she was engaged. As it was they didn’t say much more than congratulations. Isabel eventually broke everyone’s little pow-wow and showed her to her office.

Felicity spent the rest of her first day deep in paperwork. Apparently this position had been sitting empty for awhile and though Cisco and Ray had both tried to keep things afloat there were still a lot to do. At some point she noticed Sara standing at her door waiting patiently for Felicity to notice her.

“Oh. Sara. Gosh I’m sorry! How long have you been standing there?” Felicity asked as she pulled a pen she didn’t even notice she had from her mouth.

“Not long,” she chuckled. “I just got a text from Ollie saying to bring you to lunch.”

Sara raised an eyebrow at Felicity after her statement as she saw the young woman bristle at the announcement.

“He told you to bring me to lunch? As in, me and him will be having lunch together or as a reminder that I have to eat?” Felicity quietly asked as she sat back in her chair.

“I think he wanted to have lunch with you?” Sara supplied with a raised shoulder.

“No.” Felicity simply stated and returned to her paperwork.

“You want me to tell him no? My boss?” Sara asked as she looked inquisitively at the blonde.

“Oh gosh, Sara no!” Felicity turned to look at her.

“So you will be having lunch with him?” Sara asked confused.

“No I won't. You and I are going to go have lunch instead.” Felicity decided as she swiftly got up and reached for her bag and jacket. “And not as bodyguard and the body being guarded. As old college roommates. I’ve barely gotten to talk to you since we got here. I mean you follow me everywhere I go but that’s not the same. I’d invite Roy too but I’m pretty sure I heard him mention something about lunch with Thea today.”

“Felicity I feel like this is a bad idea...there I said it. Now if anyone asks I can say I told you that. Have I told you I like this whole stick it to Ollie attitude? Let’s go,” Sara squealed as she rushed to Felicity’s side and looped elbows with her and walked towards the bank of elevators.

About fifteen minutes into her lunch with Sara, Felicity's phone started to ring. It was Oliver. She silenced it and continued to eat. Of course then he called Sara who did not have the luxury of ignoring her капитан. She answered and told him Felicity had declined his lunch invite and had instead decided to eat with Sara. After she confirmed that they were safe she hung up the phone and they went on with their lunch as though he’d never called.

After lunch Felicity again sequestered herself in her office and made another small dent in the stack of paperwork. Eventually she noticed the sun setting in her office and decided it was time to head back to the mansion. She slipped on her coat once more, picked up her purse, and walked toward the security guards’ room here at Applied Science to tell Sara she was ready to go home. Instead she found Roy who informed her Sara had had plans and he had stepped in.

Roy and Felicity walked towards the bank of elevators and before he could ask about her day she got him talking about Thea, the one topic that she knew caused him to talk for hours. She had an idea that Oliver had sent Roy and pulled Sara tonight for the little defiance Felicity had shown at lunch time.

Soon they were home and instead of heading towards the living room where she knew everyone must be waiting for her since it was so late she went upstairs and sent Roy to tell them she wouldn’t be having dinner tonight.

She knew it was childish to send Roy and to ignore Oliver but she was still mad and even more so now after he’d practically commanded her to come have lunch with him today. Also turnabout was fair play.

Going straight to the closet she kicked off her heels and grabbed a pair of floral pajamas so she could get ready for bed. She took her time around the room, not expecting Oliver since most nights he snuck in after she was asleep. She leisurely sat at her vanity and disposed herself of her jewelry and her ponytail and then made her way to the bathroom for a much needed shower after her exhausting first day.

She spent a long time just standing under the spray letting the water wash away some of the kinks in her shoulders that she had after leaning over a desk all day. After nearly an hour in the shower she stepped out and dried herself off and slipped on her pajamas. Brushing out her hair she tried to look at her clean face in the mirror but it was too fogged up after her absurdly long shower.

Slipping on her robe so she’d be warm in the considerably cooler bedroom she stepped out and was surprised to spy Oliver sitting in an armchair with a glass of amber liquid, scotch probably. She gave him a quick glance and then quickly decided to ignore him. She could feel his eyes on her as she pushed her glasses up her nose and started puttering around the room getting her stuff ready for tomorrow.

Eventually Oliver placed his glass down and made his way toward her.

She went straight to her side of the bed planning on continuing to ignore him. She slipped out of her robe and tossed it into another armchair then sat on the bed.

“What?”  She finally asked when she decided he was just going to continue to silently stare at her.

_“What? That’s all you are going to say to me? You’re not going to explain your behavior today? I thought we agreed that we were going to make the best of this Felicity? This doesn’t feel like making the best of it,”_ he finally snapped going straight to Russian in his anger.

Anger quickly clouded Felicity’s eyes as she jumped up out of the bed and started jabbing a finger into his chest.

_“We did agree to make the best of this and I thought we were but you’ve ignored me since the gala Oliver! Don’t think I haven’t noticed. You pawned me off to all your family members and haven’t said one word to me until today. Oh wait I forgot; you didn’t say anything to me today either. You sent Sara! And even then you didn’t ask me to lunch. You told me I was going. Do you know me at all?”_ Felicity fired back.

_“Evidently I don’t know you because I thought you knew how important this was for you. Christ it’s important for me too! Do you know how bad it would look if the newly instated капитан can’t even get his fiancé to listen to him? For fucks sake Felicity where is your common sense?”_ Oliver continued to tower over her as he yelled.

_“ **My** common sense? What about yours? I know how important this is. I told you I was willing to make the best of this but this is a two way street Oliver and you have to put some god-damn work in it too! You can’t expect me to fall at your feet just because you’re freaking Oliver Queen!”_ Felicity fiercely exclaimed.

_“I know that damn-it! I’m not that guy anymore and you know that. I haven’t been that guy since we met at MIT. You know who I am.”_ He whispered fiercely as he glanced at their bedroom door. They were getting loud and he was probably afraid they were going to be overheard.

_“Evidently I don’t,”_ Felicity parotted as her voice dropped in volume. She was tired.

_“Oliver, I **don’t** know you. At least I don’t know this new man who came back from Russia. I know the one who was in Cambridge with me. This one,”_ Felicity waved vaguely at him, _“is a stranger to me. You don’t talk to me. You won’t even look at me unless we’re arguing. I thought when I saw you at my graduation that my friend was back but so far that’s the only glimpse of him I’ve seen."_ The fight had gone out Felicity. She was exhausted as she turned from him and went to sit back on the bed. Climbing up, she leaned against the headboard. She knew they weren’t done yet. She could see it in Oliver’s face as he looked at her.

_“I’m still the same man маленькая птица. You’re just finally seeing all of me. Do you think any of this is easy for me? Do you remember when I told you that you’re not ready for me to explain why I need to keep you safe? The same reason that I feel a need to protect you is the same reason I can barely be in the same room with you or look at you. You know. You’re too smart to **not** know but ever since I slightly mentioned it you’ve seen me differently and you think that makes me a different man. I’m not. I’ve felt this way about you since Simon.”_ Oliver had gotten very quiet as he moved towards the bed and sat on his own side against the headboard as well.

Oliver continued, _“I promise you I'm not a different man. I’m sorry I pawned you off to my family. But do you know how hard it is to be near you and not really have you? To know that when you smile at me or hold my hand that it’s for show? It is so difficult to sleep next to you every night and have to restrain myself from reaching out and touching you. You are right there next to me but you might as well be in another room.”_ He had slipped down to a laying position and turned his body to look at her.

Felicity mirrored his position and tentatively reached out her hand. Oliver reached out quickly and grasped it tightly.

She hesitated for a nanosecond and then threw caution to the wind. She pulled herself towards him and turned away from him bringing his hand with her until she was spooned in his warmth. She felt him freeze behind her back and take a shuddering breath as he tightened his hold.

_“I told you last time we argued that I could eventually get to where you are emotionally Oliver. It would be so easy, but for me to do that I need to know you again. You’re right when you said you’re not a different man but you being emotionally available **makes** you one to me. I’m going to need you to stop ignoring me. I understand that this is hard for you in a different way than it is hard for me. You don’t need to hold yourself completely back though. You’re allowed to touch me Oliver. I mean! Not like touch me in a sexual way though I guess we will have to do that at some point but not right now! I meant touch me like hold my hand or hug me or kiss my face or spoon me like we are right now! And I’m done.”_ Felicity could feel her face heating up in embarrassment and she was extremely glad that Oliver couldn’t see her face. She could feel Oliver’s chest behind her start rumbling as he tried to hold in his laughter unsuccessfully.

_“Ok,”_ he simply stated as his hold tightened even more.

Now that her anger was gone Felicity switched back to English as she continued speaking. “We have to get comfortable around each other again. This is good but we’re alone right now. We need to be good around people. We’re going to have lunch every Tuesday and Thursday to do that. This is not up for debate. I want you to put that in your CEO calendar for the foreseeable future. And no sending Digg, Sara, or Roy for me. You need me, you come get me. I don’t do well with being summoned as you learned today. Understand?”

“Yes маленькая птица. Understood.” Oliver chuckled.

“Good. Now you have to let me go so we can get under the comforter because even though you’re like a personal heater I still need to be in a blanket. And you need to change out of your suit.” With that being said Felicity slipped out of Oliver’s grasp and slipped off the bed to pull back said comforter.

Oliver simply smile at her and made his way to the closet as Felicity situated herself in bed slipping off her glasses and placing them on the side table. Five minutes later Oliver slipped in after he turned off all the lights. This time Felicity did not hesitate to make her way towards his body and in no time at all the were both asleep with her in Oliver’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> капитан-Captain  
> маленькая птица-Little Bird


	11. Chapter 10: And The Walls Came Tumbling Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Metaphorical walls and real ones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always any mistakes are my own. Russian (from google translate) is translated in the end notes and I've got some Polyvore links as well. ENJOY!
> 
> [First of Many Lunches](http://www.polyvore.com/igsomm_chapter_walls_came_tumbling/set?id=175938072)
> 
> [Discovering Starling](http://www.polyvore.com/igsomm_chapter_walls_came_tumbling/set?id=175938167)
> 
> [Applied Science Attack](http://www.polyvore.com/igsomm_chapter_walls_came_tumbling/set?id=175938225)

The next morning she woke up alone again. This time, however, there was a note waiting for her next to her glasses.

It simply read: Lunch at 12:30? Txt me. -O

It was a very minimalistic note but it still brought a smile to her face along with a little hope that now that they’d talked about their grievances last night, things would get a little better. She didn’t expect today to go perfectly. If she was honest she kind of thought today would be a little awkward.

Slowly she rolled out of bed and stalked towards the bathroom to see what her hair looked like after sleeping with it wet last night. Surprisingly it didn’t look too bad. Grabbing her straightener and curling a few ragged ends and straightening here and there she quickly deemed her hair fine and made her way to the closet.

She stood in there for awhile before she noticed that she was being fussy over her choices.... She knew she was being picky because she’d be having lunch with Oliver today. When she said last night that it would be easy to fall for Oliver she wasn’t lying. Felicity had always thought that to fall for someone you needed to get along with them like a best friend and find them attractive. Oliver was already an extremely attractive man, add a suit and he became deadly, she just needed to get to know him again.

Slowly she reached for a polka-dot pencil skirt and a coral top that see-sawed on the line of being professional or flirty. When on, the shirt would leave a sliver of skin showing where the bottom didn’t meet the top of her skirt. Slipping them both on she glanced at herself in the full length mirror and decided she looked professional _and_ flirty. Snatching a pair of black heels in her hands she padded to her vanity and quickly swiped on some makeup and picked out some earrings and was ready to go in no time.

Slipping on her heels and grabbing her purse she made her way downstairs to the kitchen to be greeted by Sara with a thermos of coffee.

“Don’t you look happy today. Did you and Oliver finally do something about all that...tension?” Sara enquired cheekily as she fell into step with Felicity on their way to the foyer where her jacket was waiting for her.

“Sara! No! It wasn’t that kind of tension!” Felicity exclaimed as they made their way to the waiting car. “Starbucks again Roy.” Felicity added as she buckled in.

“Maybe not for you,” Sara chuckled. “But you guys worked it out right? Because an unhappy капитан makes for a not so happy employee, lackey, boyevik, or whatever you wanna call me.”

“Yes Sara. We worked it out. We’re having lunch today.” Felicity answered as she ignored the look that passed between Sara and Roy.

* * *

 

She spent her morning talking to Cisco and Ray in depth about the few projects that Felicity was thinking of passing to Isabel. Intellectually they were a joy to work with and Cisco was great as a person as well but it was Ray that she didn’t quite feel right about. Felicity liked to think that her bad experiences with men had left her with a type of sixth sense but she wasn’t quite ready to damn Ray. Sure he spent a good time of their meeting staring at Felicity’s chest and when she stood up at the end of their meeting his eyes were automatically drawn to her midriff but she chalked it up to him being a man. Still she decided that she would make sure she was never alone with Ray Palmer if it could be helped.

Soon enough it was 12:15 and Felicity grabbed her jacket and purse and made her way to Sara, who was already waiting for her near the elevator. Before she got to her however, she was stopped by Ray who had stepped in front of her.

“Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to grab lunch. I know yesterday you ate alone. I thought we could get to know each other outside of the office.” Ray supplied. It was an innocent enough inquiry but it was they way he worded his proposal that made a red flag go up in her mind. She would most definitely _never_ being doing that.

“I didn’t eat lunch alone yesterday actually. I ate with my old college roommate who just so happens to also be my bodyguard now. As for lunch today I’m sorry but I’m going to be having lunch with my fiancé which is where I’m headed now. Have a good lunch.” With that Felicity went around him and made it to Sara with no further incidents.

The trip up to the top floor took no time at all since it was literally one floor up and soon Felicity found herself in front of Oliver’s executive assistant. The young man took one glance at her and promptly started falling over himself to greet her. He informed her that Oliver would be right out.

“You’re name is Jerry right?” Felicity inquired softly as to not spook the poor man more than he already was.

“Yes ma’am.”

“Can you make sure Oliver’s lunch time is clear every Tuesday and Thursday for me? I’m sure Oliver will try his best but I know you’re the one who does his actual schedule. Can you do that for me?” Felicity asked sweetly.

“Of course! Yes ma’am, that’ll be no problem!” Jerry quickly agreed as he began to turn towards his computer to probably do just as she asked.

“Thank you Jerry.” Felicity said as she beamed at him.

Jerry froze on his way to his computer probably being surprised by her thanks.

“маленькая птица stop dazzling my EA.” Felicity heard behind her. Jerry’s face turned red as he finally swiveled to his computer.

“Oliver! Be nice. You ready?” Felicity asked as she turned her smile towards him.

Oliver also momentarily froze when he got a full look at her with the added benefit of her smile. He hadn’t seen her the day before in business clothes. They suited her well. He quickly unfroze and reached for her hand, “Yes. I thought we could have lunch at this little place I know close by. We can walk there.”

Felicity was a bit surprised that he’d gone so quickly for her hand but she didn’t pull away. She knew now that Oliver needed to be touching her. He was a tactile person. They walked back to the elevator where he noticed Sara waiting. “Sara I’ve got her for an hour. Why don’t you take a break? I think Digg’s in his office and I believe I heard Lyla sent him to work with some cake…”

Sara’s eyes lit up and with a quick wave she quickly walked to Digg’s office. Felicity and Oliver soon found themselves sequestered in the elevator as it made its descent to the lobby. As they stood there in silence Felicity started to fidget. She didn’t like quiet unless she was working, it made her uneasy. After only a half a minute of silence she turned with an open mouth getting ready to say who knows what only to find Oliver already looking at her with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

She huffed out a breath in annoyance and frowned as she asked, “You were just waiting to see how long it would take me to say something weren’t you?”

Oliver let out a laugh as the elevator doors opened and they stepped out walking briskly hand in hand to front doors. “Of course I was. Some things don’t change. You’ve never liked silence like that.”

They continued chatting about mundane things not noticing all the stares they were getting in the lobby as the employees saw their new stoic boss laughing with his beautiful blonde fiancé. The employees of Queen Consolidated had seen very little of Oliver Queen in the past four years but, when they had he had seemed unapproachable. But seeing him with his new blonde counterpart they could see what had kept him away on the east coast for four years and suddenly he looked not so, for lack of a better word, scary.

Promptly Felicity found herself at a cute little sandwich shop with Oliver sat across from her. And luckily the awkward lunch she was expecting never came. Sure there were a few lulls in the conversation but one of them would pick it up quickly. They soon decided that the best way to really get to know each other was a non-ending game of 20 Questions.

“OK so we’ve gone over all the easy questions like 'what’s your favorite color' so lets get to the stuff couples should know.” Felicity stated as she pushed her chair back while Oliver helped her slip her coat back on. Even though they were in California it was still December and extremely chilly outside.

“You mean like how many sexual partners you’ve had?” Oliver questioned as he again took position of her hand and waved at the little shop owner on their way out.

“Wow, OK, I was going to jump to family questions but we can start there if you want. I mean you already know most of mine. The only one you don’t know about was my high school boyfriend Jake. Then of course there was Simon and then Cooper. So there done. You?” Felicity asked as she looked up to Oliver’s face in time to see him wince.

Lifting his other hand, he rubbed the back of his head as he responded, “I should have thought about that before I asked you. Really I just wanted to know your answer but you’re right you should know too only because, believe me when I say, it will be brought up at the worst of times.

I’ve only had one serious girlfriend before. Her name was Laurel. She’s Sara’s sister actually and it ended on bad terms. It was one of the reasons that I went to the east coast. You already know I was a shitty human being before I met you, you'd read the magazine articles. I was a chronic cheater. I cheated because I knew Laurel would take me back every single time. There was Helena, Mckenna, Alina, and a slew of other women who, sadly, I barely remember. I’m not going to try and count because it’ll just make me and you feel like shit.”

“Why did it end badly with Laurel?” Felicity smelled blood in the water. She had a feeling that whatever that reason was she needed to be prepared before someone tried to throw it in her face. It would probably be one of the worst thing she’d hear about Oliver so best to be prepared.

Sighing, Oliver answered, “I knew Laurel was out of town visiting her mother so I stayed at her apartment and brought a girl back. Laurel decided to come home early to surprise me I guess. It would've caused a blowup anyway but I didn’t bring just any girl back. I brought Sara back.”

Felicity looked sharply up at Oliver.

“I know it was a bad idea and so did Sara but we did it anyway. That’s the only time I’ve been with Sara by the way. Sara is very much into girls and at the time was doing what she thought her family wanted. I figured out pretty quickly that she wasn’t in to it but by then it was too late. I’m actually the first person Sara told that she was a lesbian.”

“So…,” Felicity asked as they made their way into QC’s lobby, “Where is Laurel now?”

“She’s at the DA’s office here in Starling. Sara and her are good now but she won’t give me the time of day. Which is fine. I understand. I just know she’s going to be invited to the wedding since her family are family friends and I don’t want you to be ambushed.” Oliver explained.

“You think she’ll ambush me?” Felicity asked as Oliver walked her to her office. Somehow they had made it to the elevator and to the Applied Science floor without her noticing.

“Oh I know she’ll ambush you. Laurel always thought she’d be you. She’d be the one marrying into the Queen family. And even though she still hates me, she'll hate the idea of someone else getting what she thinks is rightfully hers. She still wants that and will see you as an easy obstacle to get out of the way. One thing I’ve learned about you is that people have this irrational need to underestimate you so if, or when, Laurel attacks you make sure you give it to her good ok?” With that Oliver kissed her on her temple and made his way towards her door.

Turning back around before walking out he added another question to his departure. He waited for an answer this time. “Can I take you home tonight? We can get food sent up to the room and maybe continue our conversation?” This time he sounded unsure.

Felicity beamed at him from her desk and told him that sounded like a great idea. Oliver walked out with a smile on his own face and soon Felicity found herself alone with her paperwork once more except this time she was looking forward to the end of the day instead of lunch time.

* * *

The rest of the week and the weekend went along these same lines. She worked hard at work on Friday and again Oliver came to pick her up to go home. Saturday found her out and about Starling with Oliver. He took her to his favorite places and showed her the real Starling as Oliver liked to call it. Oliver knew all these little hole in the wall places that were more up her alley then all the big name brand places Moira had shown her her first week here. And Oliver got more bold.

Saturday, Oliver couldn’t seem to keep his hands off her waist which probably had to do with the midriff baring crop top she wore under her brown jacket. Even when the jacket was on, Oliver kept his hand at the small of her back. And when he didn’t have his arm around her he was holding her hand and that evening found Felicity laying in bed with Oliver wrapped around her like a vine with his face nuzzling her neck.

It was a lot for a girl to take. Felicity hadn’t been in a physical relationship in over a year and all of a sudden she was in sensory overload. That night left Felicity feeling flustered in a way she hadn’t felt in awhile.

It was alright at first, she had been laying there running her fingers through Oliver’s hair while he nuzzled her neck but that hadn't been enough for Oliver. He had held back from kissing her on the lips for now which she was grateful for but he couldn’t seem to stop himself from kissing her anywhere else and soon Oliver wasn’t just nuzzling her neck but laying soft kisses there as well. Then those soft kisses turned into small kisses with a few nips.

All too quickly Felicity found herself making small gasping sounds and slightly withering in Oliver’s hold as he feasted on her neck while his hands ran up and down her back. Eventually Oliver pulled away with blown pupils and a long expelled breath as he gave her a small apologetic smile and apologized for getting carried away.

Felicity had laughed and said he was more than welcome to do that again. And soon their night dissolved into laughter dispelling any tension that had risen as they went to sleep.

Sunday found Felicity in pajamas all day with Thea and Sara at her side as they hunkered in Thea’s room with junk food and movies while Oliver did Bratva business all day in his study.

The next week found Felicity working with Cisco and Ray, who she still didn’t quite trust, on a project that Isabel decided to pass. Tuesday and Thursday lunches with Oliver went well and Felicity began to think that this new life she’d been thrust into wasn’t so bad. Sure, most days Oliver had to go straight to his study to deal with Bratva issues and she was never allowed to go anywhere without Sara or Roy, but she was learning to take these things in stride. This was her new normal.

Soon an entire month and a half had passed with no obvious move from the Triad. So of course things were going too good to be true.

* * *

 

A random Thursday found Felicity at Applied Science earlier than usual. She had an extensive meeting set up with Isabel and they had thought the earlier they started the sooner they’d finish. She had even gotten up before Oliver for once.

Felicity’s heels clacked along the polished marble floor as she waved her security badge to the man behind the guard station as she and Roy made their way up to Applied Science. She left Roy to his station in the security guard’s room and made her way to Isabel’s office.

Isabel was wanting to implement Felicity’s team’s new project once a prototype was up and running into every sub-department in Applied Science. It would change the way the world viewed security if they could get it to work they way they envisioned. Isabel Rochev was very much a big picture kind of woman and needed to have Felicity show her in each department the benefits of the security system.

Felicity found that she quite enjoyed walking around with Isabel as they discussed how it would have to be tweaked for certain departments. They were in Caitlin’s lab when things went to shit.

They’d been walking around all morning and every time they walked into a new department whatever team was in there working would walk out and let them discuss. Everyone found it easier to stay out of Felicity's and Isabel’s way as they explored whatever space they found themselves in.

They were discussing the downfalls of a certain aspect in the lab when all of a sudden the glass doors started to automatically seal at the same time that the lab shutdown and a siren went off.

Everyone rushed to the lab to see what was happening as Isabel and Felicity found themselves locked in. Soon an eerie red light filled the lab as a colored gas started to slowly leak into the lab through the air vents.

“Don’t panic,” Caitlin yelled through the door. “It’s coming in slowly because the vents auto-closed as well when the doors did. I think-I think I know what it is so please stay calm. I’ve already called poison control and the building is being evacuated but it’s not good guys.” Caitlin was close to tears as she talked to her co-worker and boss.

“This morning one of my vials of a new virus was missing...I only noticed right before you both got in here. I just thought it was misplaced! I was going to look again when you were done in the lab but I’ve been studying this thing for over a year and I've made an antidote. The only thing is it’s untested…”

It was around this time that Oliver came rushing in along with Digg and Roy. She could see fear in Digg and Roy’s eyes. Oliver, however, was angry. He started yelling at people as soon as poison control arrived.

Caitlin ignored him and continued to talk to Felicity and Isabel, “If you want to chance the antidote it's under my desk; there’s a fridge with a pin pad there. The pin is 05-08-91. There should only be one vial in there. In the cabinet behind Felicity are some needles and gloves. Use it to give yourselves each a 4 ml dose. There should be enough.”

Felicity and Isabel rushed to do as Caitlin instructed ignoring the commotion on the other side of the glass doors. Felicity could hear Oliver turn his tirade on Caitlin.

“You can’t let them take an experimental drug!” Oliver yelled as the Poison Control team tried to question Caitlin over Oliver's yelling while they slipped on hazmat suits.

“Mr. Queen other than that drug there is nothing else out there. I’ve been working on this for over a year. It’s there best option so stop glaring at me!” Caitlin shot back as she turned to watch Felicity and Isabel. “They’re already showing symptoms: elevated breath, excessive body fluids, and I think Felicity is showing signs of impaired vision.”

'Is that what that was?' Felicity thought. She had found it hard to grab the needles minute ago finding that she couldn’t focus on the package. Now she found her vision clouding over every time she blinked.

Soon Isabel, who was doing only slightly better, held a needle out to her. They both looked to Caitlin, and consequently everyone else, as they asked if any vein would do. After a quick nod they both stabbed a vein in their respective arms and hoped for the best.

The best worked. For one of them.

Not even a minute after they each took the prescribed dosage Isabel started seizing. Felicity panicked. She tried everything she knew to do. She laid her down on her side and turned her head to the side when she started vomiting so she wouldn’t drown in her vomit. Yelling could be heard on the other side of the door but Felicity’s main focus was the woman lying next to her. Eventually the poison control team broke through the reinforced door and rushed to Isabel’s side as another group rushed Felicity into a chemical shower that had been set up while they’d been enclosed in the lab.

She could see Oliver being held back by Digg and Roy as she was decontaminated. Everything was a rush then. Her clothes and jewelry were bagged and taken away and she felt a ridiculous pang go through her heart for the small bird earrings she would probably never get back. She was given a pair of scrubs and was pushed towards a waiting EMT who decided she needed to be taken directly to the hospital for observation. Oliver was being held up with the police so she was sure to grab Roy before she was taken to the hospital.

Once there, the hospital quickly learned who she was and ushered her into a private room where she was hooked up to a heart monitor and started on an IV of fluids.

She’d been there less than 15 minutes before her room was bombarded with the Queen family. Moira and Thea fawned over her and Robert just asked questions about what exactly had happened in Applied Science. Then Roy’s cell phone started ringing and he told her it was Donna who had apparently seen what happened on the news. It was all so overwhelming that tears started flowing down her cheeks which caused Moira and Thea to go into even more of a tizzy.

When Oliver walked in he was a sight for sore eyes. He took one look at her and quickly kicked his family out, along with Roy who he stationed outside her door. Once everyone was out Oliver turned to Felicity and took a seat in the chair pulled next to her bed.

“дорогая,” is all he said as he grabbed her hand and looped their fingers together.

Felicity just looked at him through teary eyes trying to read him as he stared back with an open face. She must have gotten pretty good at it because soon she understood.

“It was the triad wasn’t it? They did this somehow...” Felicity asked.

“Yes. I found a note on your desk before the police stormed Applied Science. I’ll show it to you later. Just know that they won’t get away with this дорогая.” Oliver stated as he tightened his hold on her hand and went silent.

“How’s Isabel?” Felicity decided to change the subject as she saw anger start to cloud Oliver’s eyes.

“Right now she’s as good as she can be. It seems that the gas was further in her system than Dr. Snow had thought and that's what caused the seizure. She also ended up having a bad reaction to something in the antidote that she was unknowingly allergic to. The doctors have said she should make a full recovery but that it won’t be quick or easy.” Oliver answered as he once again went silent.

Felicity let the quiet take over knowing he needed it. Eventually he broke the silence with a question.

“Felicity...can I do something that I’ve wanted to do for awhile?” He asked as his hands moved from her hand to gently hold her face. His actions gave him away. “Today when you were in there all I could think about was the fact that I haven’t kissed you yet. I’d like to fix that.”

“OK.” Felicity whispered as butterflies exploded in her belly.

With that small acceptance he moved towards her, hesitating only when their lips were a breath away. If Felicity just tilted her head up a centimeter their lips would touch but instead she laid still, letting Oliver take the lead.

After a few seconds of just breathing each other in Oliver leaned the rest of the way in and soon their lips were moving in synchronization as they kissed for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> дорогая-My darling  
> капитан-Captain  
> маленькая птица-Little Bird


	12. Chapter 11: Mr. and Mrs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I introduce to you Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Queen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always mistakes are my own and I've got quite a few polyvore sets for ya'll in this chapter. Some of them will be used again for next weeks chapter but I just had to post them with this one as well! ENJOY!
> 
> [Getting ready for the wedding](http://www.polyvore.com/igsomm_wedding_day/set?id=176629215)   
>  [Felicity](http://www.polyvore.com/igsomm_wedding_day/set?id=176629331)   
>  [Thea](http://www.polyvore.com/igsomm_wedding_day/set?id=176630635)   
>  [Donna and Moira](http://www.polyvore.com/igsomm_wedding_day/set?id=176630593)   
>  [Oliver](http://www.polyvore.com/igsomm_wedding_day/set?id=176630736)

The rest of the month flew by and soon enough it was the night before her wedding. Felicity wasn’t as scared as she thought she'd be. Compared to when the Pakhan had first told her of her impending marriage and now she wasn't scared at all; she owed it all to Oliver.

Oliver was doing everything in his power to make her comfortable and just like she knew would happen, she was falling for him. She was almost there. She knew Oliver loved her. He never used the word love but it was there in the way his eyes went straight to her when she walked into a room, the way he couldn’t seem to keep his hands off her, the way he listened to her in rapt attention, the way he remembered the most inconsequential thing, the way he held her at night when they were sleeping, and in the way he kissed her.

Boy could that man kiss. Just thinking about laying in bed with him while they made out like teenagers made Felicity miss him more than she already did.

Thea had thought it would be cute to follow some of the old traditions and had kicked Oliver out of the mansion and told him he couldn’t see Felicity until she was walking down the aisle towards him. Oliver had fought against it but no one could win against Thea when she was on a mission. Especially on a wedding mission.

So here Felicity was, the night before her wedding, laying in bed unable to sleep without Oliver next to her and missing his kisses. Her mind flashed back to the first kiss they’d shared in the hospital. It had felt like riding a bicycle. It was like her body had already known how to respond to his. They had kissed for a few beautiful long minutes until they both pulled away. Felicity had been surprised to find herself wrapped around Oliver. She’d at some point leaned forward until she was sitting up a bit more and enveloped her arms around Oliver’s shoulders with one of her hands clasping onto his back and the other gripping his hair. Oliver had been in a similar state, with one of his knees on the bed to get closer to her and his own hands grasping her hair almost cradling her head. The beeping of her heart monitor had been going crazy and she had been surprised no one had come in to check on her.

After that Oliver found any reason to kiss her. Any time he entered or exited a room she was occupying he made his way to her and kissed her. Didn’t matter who else was in the room. The first time he did it in front of Sara and Roy they had both raised eyebrows at her until she’d been blushing like a tomato. She’d refused to answer any questions those to nosy busybodies had. Though by the end of their interrogation Sara had given her a knowing smile while she flounced off to go do bodyguard things and Roy had developed the most interesting scowl on his face.

Her coworkers had been surprised, or flustered in Barry’s case, when they first saw Oliver and Felicity interact this way but it was because one was their boss and they other was their colleague. Felicity had also noticed Ray’s look of disgust that he’d quickly hide when he caught her looking his way. Felicity had already informed Sara and Roy that she was never to be left alone with him.

Felicity had actually suspected that Ray had caused the virus leak in the lab but she hadn’t been able to find anything that tied him to the event. He actually hadn’t even been at work that day. He’d had a scheduled doctor’s appointment. Felicity had hacked the hospital to check their records and security system and she had seen that he actually had been at the hospital.

The incident in the lab had been cleaned away except for the fact that Isabel was still in the hospital. All the sub-department heads of Applied Science had had to get together to pick a temporary replacement. For a while there it had looked to Felicity like they were going to appoint her. She had quickly squashed that idea by saying she would refuse and that she thought Barry Allen would be a better fit. He already knew every single department so he wouldn’t need to learn anything new. The rest of the department had quickly followed her example and nominated Barry as the temporary head of Applied Science.

Barry had been surprised but pleased when he was informed by the CEO, Oliver. Oliver had been surprised by Applied Science’s choice but after he had discussed it with Felicity he had also agreed wholeheartedly.

Isabel had taken the news of a temporary head in stride and when Felicity had told her it was Barry Allen, Isabel had been over the moon. Said she couldn’t have chosen better herself.

Felicity made sure she visited Isabel at least twice a week to keep her up to date with Applied Science and to check up on her.

The seizure Isabel had gotten from the antidote had caused more damage than the doctor’s had first suspected but Isabel was not one to complain. She just kept saying, “Well I’m alive.” Caitlin also spent a lot of time at the hospital with Isabel but she was there working. Caitlin was a scientist first and foremost and had to see where her antidote had gone wrong in Isabel’s case.

Thinking back on all that had happened because of the virus made her think of the Triad. They were not backing down. Felicity just didn’t understand. She’d given that money back all those years ago and never once gone back. She’d known they’d be angry but not this angry that they’d send someone into her life with Cooper, try to blow her up, and then tried to poison her.

She stilled wondered why they hadn’t just told Cooper to kill her. He’d had plenty of opportunities but he’d never done anything. It was a thought that haunted her but she never voiced it. She was just lucky that’s all there was to it.

And with that final thought she finally slipped off to sleep.

* * *

Morning came too quickly, and with morning came Thea and Moira. Felicity had been sleeping soundly when she had been woken up by Thea jumping on the bed and Moira chastising her in the background, “Thea that’s no way to wake someone up on their wedding day.”

“But mom I want her to wake up for her surprise.” Thea exclaimed as she climbed out of the bed.

“What surprise?” Felicity asked mildly interested. She was also trying to wrestle the wild nest she called her hair out of her face.

“SURPRISE!” Thea squealed as she ran back towards the room’s door and swung it open.

On the other side of the door stood her mother, who had told her she wouldn’t make it till right before the wedding started today.

“Mom!” Felicity yelled and then promptly burst into tears. She hadn’t known how much she’d wanted her mother here to see her get ready until she saw her waiting on the other side of the door.

“Oh _Mame_ I’m so glad you’re here!” Felicity exhaled as her mother rushed to her side and squeezed the breath out of her.

“Of course I’m here nugget! Moira sent the jet for me last night. We wanted to keep it a surprise for you baby,” Donna explained as she slowly let go of her daughter.

“Thank you by the way,” Donna stated as she turned to look at Moira.

Now that her mother wasn’t glued to her side she saw that someone, most likely Thea, had gotten to her mother this morning because she was wearing a simple pair of jeans with a simple top. The only thing that screamed “Donna” to her were the pair of super high heels and her signature big hair. You could take the woman out of Vegas but you couldn’t take Vegas out of the woman.

“Wait. What are those?” Thea questioned as she pointed at Felicity’s face as Donna and Moira began discussing the day’s activities.

“What?” Felicity asked as Thea began to glare at her.

“Didn’t I tell you to get a goodnight’s sleep yesterday?! Those are bags missy which means very little sleep.” Thea explained as she prodded under Felicity’s eyes.

Swatting her hand away, Felicity explained, “I couldn’t sleep last night.” Thea just stared at her.

Blushing she continued as she saw Thea wasn’t going to take that as a full explanation. And even worse, her mom and Moira were now also looking at her curiously.

“I umm...I can’t...I can’t sleep without Oliver next to me,” Felicity explained as she looked at her hands and starting twisting her ring.

Again she heard squealing and was soon tackled by both Thea and Donna as they exclaimed how cute that was. Moira just looked out on with a soft smile.

Soon after that Sara knocked at her door and stepped in to remind them that they had an appointment at the spa in twenty minutes. The two mother’s left the girls to get ready and walked back downstairs with Sara.

Ignoring all of Thea’s protests to let her dress Felicity, Felicity moved towards her closet and slipped on a basic white button down shirt and a dark blue skirt. There was no reason to get dressed up and she’d need the front buttons of the shirt when she got her hair done so she wouldn’t need to slip the shirt off over her head. Grabbing a pair of blue flats she made her way back out to where Thea sat pouting on the bed.

Ignoring the poor girl on her bed was one of the hardest things Felicity had ever done as she threw her hair up in a messy bun and slipped on her contacts. No makeup was put on, no jewlery either. Why would she when they’d just come straight back here to get dressed for the wedding?

Thea gave her a begrudging nod of approval when Felicity turned to her and said she was done.

Soon enough Thea, herself, Sara, Donna, and Moira were in a limo on the way to their spa day. Sara was going to be working security for the wedding but Felicity would not hear about her friend not enjoying the spa with them. Felicity had told Sara that first and foremost she was her friend and if she didn’t come and enjoy herself she was going to make sure Oliver sent her on assignment to the dessert. Sara had laughed and hugged her and then accepted the invitation.

So now here they all were. Sara, Thea, and herself were getting messages while Moira and Donna went and got manicures and pedicures with plans to switch when they were done. Then Felicity, Thea, Donna, and Moira would make there way to the salon as Sara made her way to the venue to check on the security.

In no time at all Felicity was hugging Sara bye and being whisked away to the next location.

Everything that day felt like a whirlwind. And everything was going oddly right. The hairstylist had commended her on not washing her hair this morning and letting the salon do it. Her selected hairstyle had been executed spendley and suited her well. Felicity hadn’t had time to try out her wedding hairstyle or makeup before hand and was instead going off pictures from the internet.

Same thing with the make up artist. She’d just shown him a picture and he’d replicated it exactly. He’d even gone so far as to add a red lip to her look saying it tied the look together and surprisingly it did.

Now she was home with Thea, Moira, and her mother already dressed and helping her slip on her own dress, heels, and veil. Once she was settled and her dress was checked for wrinkles she turned to the full length mirror that had been brought into the room.

She could see her mother crying in the reflection from the mirror and it even looked like Moira was tearing up. She felt beautiful and it definitely reflected back at her. She’d never felt more gorgeous in her life. Her hands kept wandering to different locations, her dress, her hair, her earrings, the little bracelet her mother had surprised her with earlier today, just everywhere.

Thea glided closer and reached out and gently grabbed her hand as she went to fiddle with her skirt again. “Stop. You look beautiful and you’re going to take my brother’s breath away.”

Felicity’s lower lip began to tremble as she tried to stop herself from crying.

“Guys,” Thea said as she turned towards their moms, “Can you guys give us a couple minutes?”

Promptly they were left alone and Thea turned Felicity away from the mirror and instead turned her to face Thea.

“Felicity I’ve liked you since Roy had to pretend to be your boyfriend and you told him ‘Greek God’ wasn’t your type. I know why you have to do this but I also know that my brother has talked about you since you two met each other in Massachusetts. I’m going to tell you something that I think you don’t know yet. All of this was inevitable. Even if the brotherhood had stopped the Triad from attacking you I would bet my entire closet full of shoes that Oliver would have found a way to ask you out. Felicity this was going to happen eventually. You were eventually going to date Oliver, you were eventually going to get engaged, and you were eventually going to get married. It’s just happening a little faster than planned. So take a big breath and get ready to become Mrs. Oliver Queen.”

“Thea I…” Felicity stammered as tears actually began to fall.

“None of that,” Thea simply stated as she pulled a kleenex out of nowhere and began to pat the tear tracks away.

“I know you care about Ollie and you make him happy so that’s all I need to know. So smile and get ready to get bombarded by the photographer because I’m going to go get him now.” With a sweet kiss to Felicity’s temple she was out the door in a flash.

Now Felicity was alone with her thoughts. This was it. The photographer would come in take a few pictures here then they’d all drive to the venue and then she was going to get married. It was odd how the actual thought of marrying Oliver didn’t wrack her with nerves. If she was being honest with herself what was making her nervous was their wedding night. She knew logically that Oliver didn’t expect anything. But he was a man. She had definitely felt him get a little excited when they made out and she knew Oliver found her attractive. Hell, Felicity found Oliver attractive as well. How could she not with his...everything. Oliver might not have any plans for tonight but she did.

They weren’t going to have a honeymoon, at least not now. There was too much going on for them to leave. Oliver had begun to talk to her about the Bratva and she was the one who had decided it would be best to postpone any type of trip. Things still weren’t completely settled down after Oliver had taken over half of the U.S. There were a few people in the brotherhood who still didn’t think of Oliver as their boss and Oliver was having to enforce his position.

There were a few nights when Oliver would walk into their room and go straight to the bathroom and Felicity could see the sweat on his brow and the blood specs on his suit. Those were the nights when Oliver held her tight all through the night. She understood what he had to do. Oliver had lived and breathed Bratva life since he was a child. Robert Queen had lived and breathed Bratva life since he himself was a child. The brotherhood was in their blood and Oliver would do nothing to disrespect that. His father had never dreamed of rising so far in ranks and here was his own son, a капитан. Oliver wouldn’t let this go wrong and because he cared so much...Felicity helped.

She was no longer contracted for the Bratva since she was marrying in but she continued on anyway. Oliver needed her help and so she gave it. Whenever Oliver had a particularly stubborn person he had to deal with Felicity would unearth their entire life for Oliver to use as blackmail. 

If 16 year old Felicity could look at herself now she would probably be disgusted with what she was doing. There was no real reason for her to help Oliver. It wasn’t to save her life; she wasn’t being blackmailed. She was doing it because it was beneficial for Oliver and she enjoyed the hacking. She loved the thrill it gave her when she was in a database that she shouldn’t be in. Felicity had always had that in her. It was why she had decided to hack the Triad when she was 16. Because she could and because she shouldn’t.

Then she had had no one to protect her from the ramifications of doing that but now she had Oliver and with Oliver came the Bratva. So Felicity had always had a little moral ambiguity in her. Therefore she wouldn’t fault Oliver in his. Felicity was officially a Bratva wife through and through.

Suddenly she was burst from her musings as Thea, Moira, her mother, and the photographer came in. Soon enough she was being maneuvered around the room and all she could think about was the flash of the photographer’s camera.

* * *

The venue was packed with people. It struck Felicity how few people were here for her. And the few that were here weren’t all actually guests. Sara and Roy were technically working tonight and Digg was standing as Oliver’s best man. Her mother was walking her down the aisle and Anatoly was out there. Felicity’s coworkers were also out there but besides work and the occasional lunch she didn’t see them outside of the office. This wedding was for the Queens and more importantly for the Bratva. A man was not considered a good leader without a strong woman at his side and Felicity was here to fill that role.

In that aspect Felicity applauded the brotherhood. They didn’t squash their woman down. If anything the stronger the women were the stronger the brotherhood was deemed among it’s peers. In the Bratva every human body was important no matter what gender they were.

Felicity could feel herself shaking as the first strings of music started and Thea, her one and only bridesmaid, sent her a little wave and made her way down the aisle. Felicity's grasp tightened on her bouquet of lilies as she took a deep breath and looked at her mother.

Donna stood to her right looking the most beautiful that Felicity had ever seen her. Felicity had given her mother free reign on what to wear to her wedding. Felicity loved her mother and though she acted embarrassed by her often she would never try to squash who her mother was deep down, a Las Vegas woman. But her mother stood to her side looking as elegant as Felicity had ever seen her. She was in a simple long soft mint green dress with a floral embellished hip detail, dainty silver jewelry, and soft curls. Even her platform heels weren’t as high as she would usually wear them; they were however still very sparkly.

Donna smiled at her daughter and offered her her elbow as the first strands of _Canon in D_ started playing. Felicity smiled and touched her veil to make sure it was in place and looped her arm through the crook of her mother’s arm. Her mother turned to her and as the doors opened whispered close to her ear, “Time to shine nugget.”

The walk down the aisle wasn’t as bad as Felicity had thought with her mother at her side and with Oliver waiting for her at the end under a chupah. Thea had made sure to tie subtle aspects of Felicity’s Jewish roots into this wedding it seemed. It was sweet even if Felicity didn’t practice her faith very religiously. She wasn’t even being married by a rabbi; she was being married by the Pakhan himself, Mr. Slade Wilson. It was supposed to signify to the members of the brotherhood that he approved of the woman Oliver, his newly appointed капитан, had chosen as a partner.

In the brotherhood when an officer took a partner the match had to be approved of by the Pakhan. There have been instances when the Pakhan has declined his blessing. If they ended up marrying their chosen partner anyway the brotherhood shunned them out until they were either no longer in the inner circle or the bravta member divorced their spouse. That the Pakhan was marrying her and Oliver spoke volumes to the Bratva. She was an equal; she was to be respected. It helped that only a few of Oliver and Felicity’s close friends knew that this marriage was arranged. If anyone found out she would be seen as a pawn, as weak.

She spared Mr. Wilson only a glance. While she walked down the aisle she kept her eyes trained on Oliver whose own eyes had been fixated on her since she’d walked through the doors. Oliver, who usually was so stoic around people who weren’t his close friends or family, burst into a smile when he caught a full look at her. He made her feel like the most beautiful thing in the room.

All of a sudden she was at the chupah and her mother was lifting back her veil. Felicity found herself being handed off to Oliver whose hands were already clasping her own gently. She heard her mother whisper, “ _LChaim._ ” as she walked to her seat. Then Oliver and her were being married.

She heard very little of what Slade Wilson said to the gathered party. All of her attention was placed on the man still holding her hands. She knew right then that even if this marriage had been arranged and that she had had no say in the matter, Thea had been right. This was inevitable. As she stood there hearing Oliver repeating the marriage vows and slipping her new wedding band on her finger she wondered when she had fallen in love with Oliver Queen. It had happened so gradually that Felicity didn’t even notice until she was already there.

Felicity soon found herself repeating her own marriage vows and slipping on Oliver’s own wedding band on his finger. He didn’t know but she had had it engraved. He probably would never notice unless he took it off and looked inside. Felicity had only ever called Oliver “мой защитник” once, but it was so fitting that she hadn’t been able to help herself when she had gone to pick up his ring.

Only a few minutes after Felicity had slipped on his ring, Slade Wilson announced them Husband and Wife. Felicity Smoak, MIT graduate was now Felicity Queen, Bratva Wife.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Hebrew) mame=mom  
> (Hebrew) LChaim=To Life  
> (Russian) мой защитник=my protector


	13. Chapter 12: After the Show is the After Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reception and more...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey ya'll! Here's another update written by me and edited by me so please excuse any mistakes. Anything in Italics is spoken Russian! Also this chapter holds the wedding night...So smut warning. Now I've never written anything like this before... Heck this is my first story ever! So please don't judge the smut. I swear I was blushing 98% of the time I was writing that lol. Well enjoy guys! Polyvore links below.
> 
> At Wedding:  
> [Felicity](http://www.polyvore.com/igsomm_wedding_day/set?id=176629331)  
> [Oliver](http://www.polyvore.com/igsomm_wedding_day/set?id=176630736)  
> [Thea](http://www.polyvore.com/igsomm_wedding_day/set?id=176630635)  
> [Donna and Moira](http://www.polyvore.com/igsomm_wedding_day/set?id=176630593)  
> [Laurel Lance](http://www.polyvore.com/wedding_reception_laurel_lance/set?id=177291263)
> 
> Wedding night:  
> [Felicity's Wedding Night](http://www.polyvore.com/igsomm_wedding_night/set?id=177290912)

After the wedding they were rushed out to take pictures with their small wedding party and with their respective families. Felicity didn’t mind that her family picture just held her and her mother, that’s the way it was meant to be. After family pictures were taken they were herded outside for even more pictures. Oliver and Felicity had been married for at least an hour and hadn’t had a single moment to themselves. Once all the pictures were done Thea took them to the room Felicity had been in before the ceremony. There she took off Felicity’s veil and then turned towards the newly married couple.

“Ok. I’ve cut out a few minutes where you two can be alone for just a bit. Felicity your lipstick is over there for you to touch yourself up when you’re done. I’ll come knock on the door when it’s time for you to go to the reception.” And with that Thea left the room leaving them alone together for the first time all day.

Suddenly Felicity felt shy. Now that she knew she was in love with Oliver she found herself tongue tied.

But that was fine because Oliver had no such hindrance. When Thea closed the door he made his way to Felicity and, like he had all day, he reached for her hands and gently clasped them in his own.

“Hey.” He whispered. He gently tugged her closer until she was pressed up against his chest. Even in her heels she had to tilt her head back to look at his face.

“Hey.” She whispered back.

Oliver let go of one of her hands and reached up to tuck a loose tendril behind her ear. “We’re married. You’re my wife. I’m your husband,” He said as his hand then moved to cradle her face.

“We’re married. I’m your wife. You’re my husband.” Felicity repeated back.

Felicity felt so light headed. He was so close and she could feel him everywhere. He was so intoxicating. She could see him moving closer and soon they were kissing. But it was different. This wasn’t the quick pecks that they’ve shared in public, or like the kisses they shared during their make-out sessions in the privacy of their bedroom, or even the kiss they had just shared when they got married.

No, this kiss was languid. It was all smooth lips and skilled tongues and heavy breathing. It was not what she had imagined her first real kiss with her husband would be but she was not complaining.

All too soon they were interrupted by Thea’s knock. They both pulled away surprised. A quick glance at a clock on the wall told them they’d been in here for 15 minutes. Felicity tried to hold in a laugh as she saw the state of Oliver’s face. There was red lipstick everywhere. She dragged him to the table that held her lipstick and was glad to find some makeup removal wipes.

She was still wiping his face when Thea came in. Thea just rolled her eyes and took over helping her brother as Felicity turned to the mirror on the wall to reapply her lipstick. Somehow she didn’t look as ravished as Oliver had. Her face was a little pink and her lips were definitely swollen but with the red lipstick they just looked a little plumper.

Thea quickly rushed them out to the reception venue where their friends and family waited. Again Felicity had to hand it to Thea. She had no idea how she’d pulled this off but it was beautiful. The ballroom walls had been completely draped in panels of sheer white fabric so it looked like they were in a gauzy tent with a canopy covered in fairy lights. There were accents of navy blue and lilies everywhere Felicity turned to look.

The rest of the night was very much like the wedding ceremony; a blur. She remembered dancing with Oliver quite a few times and with her own mother. They had opted out of having a father-daughter dance seeing as Felicity didn’t have one and instead had a mother-daugher dance. She had even danced with Moira who looked as elegant as ever in a one shoulder pink chiffon gown.

There were, of course, a couple of stressful incidents that weren’t so blurred in her memory. Nothing big just small occurrences that had been uncomfortable.

Slade Wilson had asked for a dance from the new bride and there wasn’t really a way Felicity could refuse. So she danced with the man in silence. Not a word was said between them. Felicity could see Oliver standing to the side, stiff as a board, with a carefully neutral face. The only thing giving him away was the vein on the side of his neck that was pounding and his balled fists. At the end of the song Slade pulled away from her and with a flourish kissed her hand and wished her a child blessed marriage. The reminder was clear. She had to have a child sometime in the next two years. That statement alone had been awkward and stressful.

The next stressful occurrence was when Felicity had been talking to Caitlin and Ronnie and also Barry and his wife, Iris. They had gone off to dance when Felicity turned expecting to find Oliver only to see Ray Palmer standing behind her. Felicity had been unsettled but had tried to hide her unease at being suddenly alone with the man. He had surprised her however by acting extremely normal, at least, until he reached out and took the same tendril of hair Oliver had tucked back hours ago that had again fallen down. Instead of tucking it back right away he gave it a small tug and then tucked it back letting his fingers linger near her neck.

Felicity had frozen stiff with what she knew must have been horrified eyes until suddenly Sara was at her side and had Ray’s hand in a death hold. Sara had leaned dangerously close to Ray who was wincing in pain and spoke in the quietest tone of voice Felicity had ever heard Sara use, “If you ever touch her again I’ll make sure that they never find your body.”

Ray had paled, ripped his hand away, and walked away as quickly as he could. Sara had given Felicity a tiny nod and smile and directed Felicity to where Oliver stood with his parents. It was so odd how Oliver was never there when Ray was being creepy. Felicity would have to think on that later because as soon as she got to Oliver she was being whisked away by Robert for a dance.

The most stressful moment though was caused by a person Felicity had never even met before.

Felicity had finally stepped away from another Bratva businessman who had wanted to ask her opinion on something or other and had made her way to the bar. She was just taking a sip of champagne, to afraid to drink her preferred red wine in her dress, when she heard a feminine voice rudely ask, “Oh, so you’re not pregnant?”

Barely holding back from spitting her drink, Felicity abruptly turned to see who had asked her such a stupid question.

Standing behind her was an angry statuesque brunette.

She was in a tight orange Hervé Léger dress and a pair of platform sandals which made her look even taller than she was at first glance.

“Excuse me?” Felicity asked for lack of a better thing to say.

“I’m assuming you’re not pregnant like I thought since you’re drinking.” The brunette repeated as though she was speaking to an imbecile.

“I understood the question. Me saying ‘excuse me’ was my polite way of hoping you’d think again before asking it. It seems however you’re about as smart as you **_think_** I am. Which for your clarification isn’t very smart.” Felicity retorted. She wasn’t usually this rude but the nerve of this woman!

“I’m just trying to understand why Ollie would marry you. Blonde isn’t really his type and you’re not that pretty either so my first thought was pregnancy. So tell me; did you blackmail him?” The brunette continued in her rude questioning.

Bristling, Felicity answered, “Oliver married me because he wanted to and apparently blonde is his type since he’s married to one now. And I don’t take stalk in myself by your proclamation that I’m not pretty. I don’t care what you think. I think I’m pretty and Oliver thinks I’m pretty and guess what? Those are the only two opinions that matter. Who the hell are you?!”

The brunette looked surprised that Felicity didn’t know who she was. Then she got a wicked gleam in her eye. “I’m Laurel Lance. The woman Oliver is still in love with. We were together forever. We still are you know. We still see each other quite frequently.”

That answer, however, did not get the response from Felicity that Laurel had expected. Instead of anger and jealousy she received laughter.

“Oh! Laurel! That’s who you are? I’ve heard about you. You’re the one Oliver cheated on with her own sister who is also, shockingly, a blonde.” Felicity said around her laughter, tilting her head at Laurel as her face turned red in anger at the mention of Sara.

“Why you little-” Laurel growled before she was cut off by Oliver himself.

“Is everything ok here дорогая?” Oliver asked as he wrapped his right arm around Felicity’s waist and stuffed his left hand in his pant’s pocket.

“Oh just meeting Ms. Laurel Lance here. She came up to talk to me just like you thought she would,” Felicity answered as sweetly as possible.

Laurel, who had been glaring at Felicity until Oliver showed up, was now standing stick straight to better emphasize her figure now that Oliver was in front of her.

“Ollie! It’s been too long since we’ve seen each other. How are you?” Laurel asked in a sweet voice. It was a total 360 from the way she’d been talking to Felicity. And too long? Hadn't she just lied to Felicity's face and said they saw each other frequently?

“I’m great Laurel, seeing as this is my wedding,” Oliver answered bluntly.

Turning her head towards Oliver, Felicity continued her explanation, "Laurel was just telling me that you're still in love with her and that you both still see each other." Felicity was going to be honest because, in a situation like this, that was the best plan.

Oliver, to his credit, didn't get angry or, if had been remotely true, defensive. Instead he began to laugh. "Laurel we haven't even seen each other in 5 years. Actually, we did see each other recently when you came to QC but it was for business and you still wouldn’t speak to me. I don't know what you're trying to start with my wife but it's not going to work.  Now if you'll excuse us we have to go cut our cake." With that, Oliver tightened his hold on Felicity and steered them away from the now once again fuming brunette.

As they walked away Felicity could still feel her glaring daggers at her. But of course Laurel couldn't just leave and lick her hypothetical wounds. No, she decided she needed to have the last word. Or at least she tried. Laurel had gotten as far as yelling out "Ollie" when Roy and Sara had come out of nowhere and escorted her out. Poor Sara. That must have been embarrassing for her.

Thankfully that had been the end of the awkward moments for the rest of their reception. The rest of their night was spent laughing, dancing, and taking pictures. They really had to cut their cake when Oliver had steered them away as well.

All too quickly it was the end of the day and Felicity found herself being escorted by Oliver through their wedding guests as they threw rice at them while they got into their limo.

They were going to spend the weekend at a hotel in town instead of going somewhere for their honeymoon. Neither had the time for that. Felicity could feel butterflies exploding in her stomach as the city lights flashed across their faces.

Oliver didn’t expect anything tonight. She knew this because of the way Oliver kept saying he couldn’t wait to relax when they got to their room. He was making sure that she knew he didn’t expect anything but, Felicity did. Even if she hadn’t figured out she was in love with him she still would have wanted to sleep with him. She would have to be stupid or dead to not find Oliver ridiculously attractive and this was her wedding night god damn it.

But because she now knew she was in love with him she was suddenly nervous. Would he rebuke her? She hoped not.

The limo pulled up to the hotel’s entrance and the driver went to pull their door open. Oliver then stepped out and stuck his hand back in to help her. They already had their hotel keys and their things had been brought earlier that day so they just made their way straight to the elevators which then took them to the honeymoon suite.

Thankfully it wasn’t as tacky as Felicity had thought it would be. There weren’t rose petals on a heart shaped bed, but a beautiful canopy covered california king bed with candles covering every possible surface. It was romantic.

Poor Oliver stiffened when he walked in. It was cute. Felicity let out a soft chuckle and tugged on the hand she’d been holding since they first stepped out of the limo. Oliver automatically leaned towards her as she laid a tender kiss on his cheek and whispered, “I like it. Don’t blow the candles out please.”

Oliver quickly nodded as she pulled away and grabbed her small bag that was next to the bathroom like she’d asked. “I’m going to change ok? You should too.” And with that Felicity slipped into the bathroom and shut the door.

Once inside she let out a shaky breath as she swept her now sweaty hands down her dress and looked at herself in the mirror.

Her eyes were shining back at her with nervous energy and excitement. She reached behind her neck and undid the little buttons there as she began to undress. Soon she was standing in her underwear as she hung up her beautiful dress on the back of the bathroom door.

Felicity slowly took off all her jewelry and undid her updo. Shaking her hair out she turned the faucet on and washed off all her makeup and then slipped out her contacts. Sliding her glasses out of her bag she put them on and then reached back into the bag. Slowly she slipped out a bright red panty set.

Butterflies burst out again as she looked at the set. This wasn’t usually her but she’d seen the set when shopping with Sara one time and hadn’t been able to resist. It was so lacy and pretty in the store but now that she was holding it she was having second thoughts. A quick glance at the bathroom door which she knew had Oliver on the other side made up her mind for her. Without looking at herself she slipped out of the underwear she had on now and slipped on the red set. She went back into her bag and pulled out a pink robe and slid that on as well.

Before tying the robe, she turned back towards the mirror and really looked at herself. The wild hair and the glasses were very her but then you got to the panty set and the open robe and she looked hot. The only bit of adornment that she still wore were her wedding rings but she had never taken her engagement ring off before so why would she start now. Quickly tying the robe so it hid what was underneath she glanced at herself again. Now you couldn’t tell what she was wearing. She could easily have one of her usual sleep short sets on underneath. Taking a deep breath she finally stepped out.

Oliver was on the bed. He had changed out of his own suit and had slipped into a pair of sleep pants and that was all. She loved shirtless Oliver and he knew it. She’d mentioned it once when they were going to bed that she liked feeling his skin under her hands and since then he had never worn a shirt to bed again.

He turned to look at her when she stepped out and gave a small frown at her robe but then smiled at her as she made her way to him. She walked to his side of the bed and stood close while he reached out and wrapped his hands around her waist.

The robe was so thin she could feel the heat of his palms radiating through it to her own heated skin.

“Hey.” He whispered. There was something about the atmosphere that made talking in anything louder than a whisper feel wrong.

“Hey.” She whispered back as she lifted her hands and wrapped them around his neck. She soon began to play with the hair on the back of his head.

‘Now or never Felicity,’ Felicity thought to herself as she looked at this man. This man who was now her husband.

Letting go of the little breath she’d been holding since she’d uttered “Hey” she leaned forward until her forehead rested against his own.

“Oliver can I ask you a few things and can you give me honest answers?” She quietly asked.

The words caused her lips to brush up against his as she spoke causing Oliver to give a small shudder as he replied, “Anything дорогая.”

Felicity leaned in impossibly closer until she was practically in Oliver’s lap with her hands still looped around his neck and her forehead still resting against his. Oliver tightened his grip and decided “almost” in his lap wasn’t good enough and quickly settled her in his lap fully.

“I know that you don’t expect anything to happen tonight Oliver and that is so sweet but I want to know...do you want me?” She felt Oliver’s hands squeeze her waist at her first question. She continued.

“If I told you that I wanted something to happen tonight and that under this robe I had something on especially for you would you reach out and untie the knot?” She heard another shuddering breath leave Oliver and what she swore was a whimper. Still she continued.

“If I straddled you right now would you stop me?” There was her last question. All of them asked in a breathy whisper. Felicity could feel her heart beating out of her chest as Oliver finally froze beneath her.

Felicity slowly slid her hands from Oliver’s neck and made her way down his arms causing goosebumps to erupt in her wake as she reached for his hands that were frozen on her hips. Oliver’s head fell forward and watched her hands take his away from her hips. She slowly got him to let go and she maneuvered herself to straddle his lap.

Oliver shot his head back up to look at her face with wild eyes as she settled into his lap.

She could feel how excited she had made him and she couldn’t hold herself back when she wiggled a little just to feel him at the apex of her legs.

Oliver gasped and his hands shot right back to her hips.

“Answer me Oliver. You said you would. Do you want me? Or do you want me to stop?” She asked as she reached for the tie on her robe.

Suddenly one of his hands shot out to stop her hand as it began to loosen the tie at her waist.

She quickly let go as though scalded and began to pull away, lifting up onto her knees so her weight was no longer on his lap. She thought that was his answer. He quickly pulled her back on his lap causing them both to gasp as she was pushed flush against his cock causing a little burst of pleasure to course through her.

Looking back into his eyes, she could see that his pupils were blown most likely mimicking her own.

“Wait,” he gasped, “You didn’t let me answer.” Slowly he slid one of his arms completely around her and slid the other in between their chests as he made his way towards the tie of the stupid goddamn robe. “Of course I want you but you said I could untie this.” He throatily whispered as he played with the ties. Suddenly he gave it a hard yank and it fell undone.

However they were so close the robe didn’t fall completely open. All that happened was that the top that covered her breasts fell open slightly. Enough to give Oliver a glimpse of red lace. This time she knew he whimpered.

Feeling emboldened by the way Oliver was looking at her, Felicity began to shimmy her shoulders a little as she slipped the robe completely off. Soon it was hanging around her waist trapped there by Oliver’s arm that was still banded around her waist. He quickly yanked it away and threw it to the ground as he finally took an unobscured look at her.

Felicity bit her lip as Oliver took one of his hands and began to trace the lace running across her breasts. She gasped and threw her head back when Oliver’s fingers were quickly followed by his tongue as he licked the path his fingers had made.

God now she wished she hadn’t been wearing anything under that robe. As Oliver’s tongue traced the lace across her chest his hands went to her back.

At this point Felicity couldn’t hold still anymore and began to move her hips minutely causing little sparks to go off behind her eyelids and in her body. Soon she was full on gyrating in Oliver’s lap. She needed pressure. She needed more. Her hands were in Oliver’s hair pulling him even closer to her breasts as he moved his lips to suck a nipple through the lacy fabric causing her to cry out and pull him impossibly closer.

His hands had made their way to her ass that, to his great enjoyment, was bare from the thong she was wearing. He began to knead her ass as she opened her legs even further feeling his cock right where she needed it. God she hadn’t known how much she’d wanted this until right now. She ripped Oliver away from her chest and brought his lips up to hers. It felt like fire was erupting everywhere in her body. She couldn’t get close enough; she couldn’t feel enough of his skin.

Oliver must have felt the same way because next thing she knew her bra was whipped away, thrown somewhere into the flickering room. She quickly sat up and started lowering her thong as Oliver began kicking his pants and boxers down all at once.

It had never been like this for her before. All frantic energy, urgency permitting every move they made. She felt like she was drowning in sensations. It felt like if she didn’t get him inside her right now she was going to combust. She didn’t need him to finger her to completion or to go down on her right now, he didn’t need her to give him a mind blowing blow job, she was sure that would come later when they weren’t feeling so frenzied. What they both needed right now was to be connected in the best way possible.

Just as Felicity began lowering herself on him, Oliver, who had a tight hold on her waist, suddenly turned them. Now Oliver was above her with her legs still hooked around his waist. He grabbed one of her legs and hooked it over his shoulder as he eased himself into her.

As soon as Oliver was encased in her heat he froze. He was still above her as he took deep heavy breaths. Felicity was right there with him trying desperately to keep still as he gathered himself.

Felicity soon began to wiggle beneath him and he tightened his holds on her waist and on her leg silently asking her to stop.

“Move,” she gasped pleadingly as she lay still beneath him. “Please!” He was right there and she was already so close.

“Fuck дорогая. Give me a second or this won’t last long.” He growled as he finally gave a small experimental thrust.

“Ahhh!” She cried out as a small explosion of color burst behind her eyelids.

“No, fuck, move!” She cried out in desperation as she started to thrust herself. It wasn’t easy with Oliver looming over her but she reached above her and placed her hands on the headboard for leverage and began to unevenly thrust.

“Fuck! Felicity!” With that, what little concentration Oliver had gotten disappeared as he wildly began to thrust into her taking her other leg that was still around his waist and raising it to his other shoulder.

“Yes!” Felicity yelled. She felt like crying it felt so good. He was everywhere. It felt like he was caging her in; she was surrounded by Oliver. She took her hands away from the headboard and reached for Oliver. She needed him even closer. As close as she could get him.

He got the message and, without ever losing his brutal pace, he let go of her legs letting them fall to his sides as he went into her open arms. His face went straight to her neck as he licked and bit at it wildly.

God she was right there! She was right on the precipice but she needed more. She pulled his face to hers and their mouths met in a sloppy kiss as they were all tongues and teeth.

“Harder! Faster!” She whimpered into his mouth as her hands ran along his back raking her nails along the way trying to get him to do as she said.

He grunted in response and leaned away from her. She began to protest until suddenly she was once again flipped and she was above him. Yes. His cock was sinking even further into her in this position. She placed her hands on his chest and just went wild. She had no care in the world but to get to that orgasm that was just out of reach. Her hands left his chest and made their way to her own breasts. She needed more stimulation. She was riding him hard when his hand snuck in between them and he began to rub her clit. Her head fell back as she began to scream. It was a good thing they were alone up here on this floor because there was no way she couldn’t be heard.

She'd never been overtly loud but with Oliver she found herself doing things she’d never done before. And Oliver loved it. Every time she got louder he would begin to talk to her in Russian. It seemed that when Oliver was feeling passionately, just like when he was angry, he began to speak in Russian. He was saying whatever popped in his mind. _“Yes just like that. Tell me how much you like this Felicity. Take what you want baby. FUCK! Yes baby. You like that don’t you? You like it hard baby?”_  And with every Russian sentence that was uttered Felicity found herself closer and closer to that glorious orgasm.

It was when Oliver was rubbing her clit fiercely and he said, _“Yeah baby, you gonna come for me? Come for your husband дорогая,”_ that she came.

And she came hard. Her entire body stiffened as she fell onto Oliver’s chest. Everything that wasn’t Oliver’s chest fell away from her sight. Oliver wrapped his arms around her and positioned his legs under her as he continued to piston into her. Thrust after thrust prolonged the best orgasm Felicity had ever had in her life until Oliver gave a short shout and groan and he was coming. Felicity was still experiencing small little aftershocks and when Oliver came she had another orgasm. It was much smaller than the one before but she still milked him for all he was worth.

All too soon they were laying side by side, naked as the day the were born, trying to catch their breath. Every single one of her limbs felt like jello. Felicity eventually turned herself until she was cuddled into Oliver’s side as he continued to lay there still trying to breath.

“You OK there old man?” Felicity asked as she propped her head on Oliver’s chest so she could see him better.

“Hey it’s been awhile for me. And you...you came out of nowhere with that Felicity. Not that I’m complaining.” Oliver answered with only one break in there to catch his breath. His hands drifted to her head and began to play with tendrils of her hair.

She snuggled closer, her head still laying on his chest. “I’ve wanted to do that for a few weeks now but I thought our wedding night was fitting.” Her eyes twinkled with laughter as Oliver’s eyes widened with the knowledge that Felicity had been planning this for weeks.

His eyes softened when she began to chuckle as he continued to play with her hair and then she saw hesitation enter his eyes. He opened his mouth and then closed it for a few agonizing minutes. She thought she knew what was coming but she waited patiently to be sure. With Oliver it was always best to wait patiently.

“Felicity...дорогая...I…I’m in love with you.” He whispered as his hand moved to cup her face as though he was afraid she’d move away. Before today she might have. Before today she didn’t know exactly how she felt about Oliver but now she did. “I’ve been in love with you for a very long time. I love you дорогая.”

“I know.” She responded easily as she reached out and cupped his own face. Oliver closed his eyes and nuzzled her hand. “I love you too мой защитник.”

With that small sentence Oliver’s eyes flew open and stared at her trying to find the lie. But for the first time in a long time she held nothing back. He saw no lie in her eyes and with that realization he pulled her up to him and kissed her fiercely and all too soon they were making love again and taking their time doing it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> дорогая: My Darling  
> мой защитник: My Protector


	14. Chapter 13: Happily Ever After...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Married couples still fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's Wednesday...sorry I didn't update yesterday but I had a hectic weekend of moving and I just needed sleep. This is also my last chapter that is completely pre-written which means that my next updates probably won't be so well scheduled. I've been in a bit of a funk lately and the last time I wrote for this story, besides editing a chapter, was probably about a month ago. I'll try to write this week though and get at least two chapters written but I'm still not sure I've shaken this funk. So on that slightly sour note: Enjoy ya'll!
> 
> Only two Polyvore sets this time:  
> [Fight 2](http://www.polyvore.com/igsomm_fight_number/set?id=178041845)  
> [Fight 3](http://www.polyvore.com/igsomm_fight/set?id=178042293)

The first six months as Mrs. Oliver Queen flew by like a dream. Everything was perfect. Well calling it perfect was probably a stretch, but it was perfect for a married couple high up in the Bratva and a wife who was being hunted by the Triad.

Oliver was the perfect husband. He showered her with gifts and not with things like jewels or furs. She didn’t need all that. His gifts were things like fresh flowers at her desk every Monday because of one random conversation they had once where she told him that Mondays made her sad. He gave a huge donation to the Boys and Girls club in her name because she told him that she’d been part of the branch in Vegas when she was younger because her mother couldn’t watch her all the time. And he surprised her with loads of expensive lingerie. OK that one was more for him then for her but she liked wearing them so it was a little for her.

Felicity had thought that after a couple of months their sex life would calm down but she had been extremely wrong. Even six months later they had sex at least once a day. The average was maybe twice a day. Oliver no longer got up before Felicity in the morning. He still woke up before her, but he waited for her to wake up before they started their day together. And almost every day was started with amazing morning sex. And it didn’t necessarily have to be in their bed. They’d had morning sex in their closet, on the floor, against the bed, against the door, in the shower… The shower was probably Felicity’s favorite place.

She could still remember her first day in the mansion and looking at the shower with a mixture of trepidation and anxiety because of the bench built into it. She could now confidently say that the shower bench was her best friend. It didn’t matter if she was sitting on the bench with Oliver eating her out, if Oliver was sitting on the bench while she was giving him a blow job, if she had one leg propped on it while Oliver took her from behind, or if Oliver was seated there with Felicity in his lap, she loved that bench.

If they couldn’t sneak a quickie in during their work day then the next time they had each other was when they went to bed. Every night was spent naked in each other’s arms. And it was never the same. It could be quick and hard, soft and gentle, or any mixture in between. The only thing that mattered to them was that they were together.

The only time their sex lives was interrupted was when they got into an argument. Because even though they were married now and they loved each other that didn’t mean they didn’t have little tiffs. But even then they didn’t last longer than a couple days.

The first time they argued it had been over wet towels. Oliver had the horrible habit of leaving them on her side of the bed and she had sat in a wet spot more than once. Felicity had the horrible habit of taking his towel. Oliver had been stalking his way to Felicity for some of their usual morning sex when he’d seen the towel she was wrapped in. He had blown up. Looking back now, it was funny that their first fight as a married couple was over towels. But then they hadn’t found it funny. They had both left for work angry and with no morning sex and it wasn’t till that night that they aired out their grievances. Oliver had promised to not place his towel on their bed and Felicity had promised to not take his towel. It still happened of course but nowhere near as frequently.

Their next argument had been a lot bigger than the towel debacle. Felicity had been waiting for Oliver to finish a meeting with some Bratva members at QC so they could get lunch when Laurel Lance had sauntered her way out of the elevator.

Felicity hadn’t thought anything of it at first. She knew Laurel was showing up. She was the Bratva’s go-to lawyer here in Starling City and she knew that the meeting Oliver was trying to end right now was important. She’d sat by his side during endless business dinners all month and Laurel was supposed to be bringing the contracts that were to be signed tomorrow by unknowing businessmen. The Bratva members in Oliver’s office were members that would benefit soon from this new deal and they wanted copies of unsigned contracts for their files. Felicity had been the one who had suggested it to them during one of their meetings. She had told them it would be better to have a paper copy than a computerized copy since computers were easy to hack. The members had taken her suggestion as though it was their капитан who had suggested it himself.

The members of the Bratva had quickly come to realize that Felicity was not your normal Bratva wife. She didn’t sit silently at Oliver’s side and their капитан didn’t expect her to. She was to be treated as an extension of Oliver and Felicity was grateful. She didn’t take kindly to being dismissed just because she was female or blonde. Which is exactly what Laurel did as she breezed her way past Felicity without giving her a second glance and walked into the office.

Oliver’s office was made of glass and you could see right through it so Felicity had an unobscured view of Laurel making her way to Oliver’s side. At first glance it didn’t look like much but if you took a good look you could see Laurel’s body pressed into the back of Oliver’s chair and her hand trailing up and down his arm.

Felicity instantaneously saw red.

Oliver, bless his soul, was ignoring the brunette plastered to his back but he also wasn’t telling her to move away. Soon the contracts were passed out and the Bratva members were making their way out of the office and giving Felicity a wide berth. If she didn’t know better she’d say they could see smoke coming out of her ears. Oliver and Laurel made their way out last. Laurel turned her sultry eyes towards Oliver and whispered something into his ear with Felicity right in front of her. It was at this point that Oliver finally moved away from her with a frown and made his way to Felicity’s side.

Even though Felicity was mad beyond belief, she quickly raised her left hand and waved to Laurel making sure her ring glinted in her face. With a huff Laurel left the floor and with a huff Felicity dragged Oliver’s sorry ass back into his office.

Even months later she could still remember that argument word for word.

“What the hell was that?!” Felicity growled as soon as she pushed the opaque button on Oliver’s desk so no one could see her rip him a new asshole.

Oliver didn’t shy away and answered her honestly with, “I have no idea.”

“You have no idea? YOU HAVE NO IDEA?! That woman was all over you in here and you didn’t do anything about it. Bad enough that she thinks she could do that right in my face but that you let her continue that in front of the Bratva members was ridiculous! And what the hell did she just whisper in your ear?!” Felicity was fuming and there was no hiding it. Oliver could see that and was trying to pacify her with his hands on her shoulders but it was only making her angrier.

“дорогая it was nothing you don’t have to worry-” Oliver was cut off before he could finish with a finger poking at his chest and an even angrier Felicity in his face.

“I don’t have to worry?! What the fuck did she say?!” She yelled.

“OK! She asked if I was tired of you yet and if I was ready to take in a mistress. And if I was that she would be more than happy to fill that role. But Felicity-” Once more he was interrupted but this time not by a finger poking at him but by the murderous look on his wife’s face.

“She is not allowed alone with you do you hear me? If I can’t be in the room when you’re with her than I want Sara there. Do you understand? And when you are in a room with her there is to be five feet between you and her. Am I clear Oliver?” All of this was said in a deadly quiet voice and if Oliver hadn’t know that his wife wasn’t born into the Bratva then the murderous glint in her eye would’ve made him second guess himself.

Nodding, he reached for her wanting to calm her down but she stepped away from him.

“We’re not having lunch today. I can’t look at you right now without thinking of her. I’ll see you at home.” Felicity briskly said and with that she sauntered out of his office leaving Oliver baffled.

Felicity had stayed angry all day and that night they didn’t have sex much to Oliver’s disappointment. That was as long as Felicity could hold out however, because the next morning she’d woken up before Oliver and brought him out of sleep with a mind blowing orgasm as she gave him what she called an “I'm sorry blowjob”.

The next two times they’d had an argument that led to no sex were their biggest arguments to date.

One of them was brought about by Ray Palmer.

They’d been married for 3 months and since her wedding Ray had steered clear. Unless they were talking about work and Cisco was there they didn’t really speak. It was when Isabel finally came back after months of physical therapy that he got weird.

She’d be coming out of a meeting with Isabel and he’d come stalking over and ask what they’d talked about. Sometimes Felicity would tell him and other times she’d tell him that that information was not for him to know. Whenever she said the latter though, he’d get extremely agitated and stalk her for the rest of the day as though he was afraid to have her out of his sight.

It had gotten so bad that Felicity had pulled Sara and Roy from their post in the guards’ office and had them stay with her whenever they knew he was on the Applied Science floor. She wasn’t scared for her safety per say but she was afraid Ray would try something stupid.

When Sara and Roy started hanging around Ray backed off but not for long. Soon after that she started receiving notes on her desk. They were always there before she got to work every morning.

They were typed out and at first they were non-threatening. They began as one word notes; “Beautiful”, “Nymph”, “Aphrodite”, “Mystical”, and then they changed to consist of more words and these weren’t as sweet. The first one of this nature read, “Divorce him.” Then came, “You’ll be mine.”

Soon more flooded in, “You’d look amazing with my hands around your neck.”, “I’ll fuck you first then they’ll kill you.”, “They’re waiting.”

It took her longer than she’d like to admit to figure out they were coming from Ray. Someone had looped the footage in her office so that after she left for the night it looked like no one ever came in. Ray was good, she’d give him that, but she was better. Once she figured out that Ray was more than just a creepy stalker she went straight to Oliver.

However, she didn’t know that only minutes ago Sara and Roy had decided that it was time for Oliver to know what was going on and they went to him before she could.

To say he was livid would have been an understatement. There had been a lot of yelling in Russian from both of them. Felicity didn’t understand. She was going to tell him. She wasn’t going to keep this from him but Oliver argued that she should have told him the first time Ray had ever made her uncomfortable. They couldn’t come to an agreement and soon enough Oliver had stalked out of his office and slammed the door behind him leaving a shocked and crying Felicity behind.

That night Oliver didn’t come home. Digg had texted her around midnight and told her that he was passed out drunk on his couch. That had hurt. That had caused more tears to fall and Felicity didn’t sleep that night. Instead she spent the night thinking. Thinking about how Oliver had told her countless times that his first instinct was to protect her and that if he couldn’t do that what was the point of their life choices being taken from their hands. He was always quick to say that they would’ve ended up here anyway but it would’ve been in their own time. He would’ve 'wined and dined her' he always said.

That night she figured out that by waiting she’d made Oliver feel powerless. She hadn’t meant to. She’d just wanted to know what was going on and in her thirst for knowledge she’d made Oliver feel useless.

She had hoped that Oliver would come home the next morning but she didn’t see him. Sara and Roy gave her guilty looks feeling responsible for the blow up between her and Oliver. She ignored them because she was afraid if she looked at them she’d start crying again. Once at QC she was flooded with work and had no chance to go to the executive floor.

It seemed, unfortunately, that last night when she’d made her way to Oliver’s office she’d left her computer open where you could clearly see old video surveillance of Ray leaving one of his many notes in her office. So when Ray had come to leave another note there it was open for him to see. Ray had left one last note and then vanished. There was no sign of any of his things in his office. He’d emptied the thing out and had left her and Cisco with a heap load of work.

His last note had read, “We’re coming for you.” Felicity had held onto it all day and finally at the end of the night she’d handed it to Sara and told her to go give it to Oliver while she headed down to the car. She was tired and even though she wanted to see Oliver she didn’t want to hear him yell at her again.

So she sent Sara up one elevator and she went down another to the underground parking garage. She should have known better.

Once in the garage she made her way to her town car. She knew Roy was already in the car waiting for her and Sara. She could hear the clicking of her heels against the cement and she was halfway to the car when she heard the heavy breathing and the click of a man’s pair of shoes.

After that everything happened in a flash. She was grabbed around the waist at the same time that Roy jumped out of the car with his gun drawn, aiming at the man who had her. She heard a gun go off and instead of feeling her assailant go down she saw Roy thrown back as the bullet met his chest. Unfortunately Roy’s head also made connection with the side mirror of the car and he was momentarily dazed.

She was being dragged away limply from shock when she suddenly got angry. She’d gotten soft having Roy and Sara around all the time. In Vegas she’d been able to take care of herself. She might not be a fighter like Sara and Roy but that didn't’ mean she couldn't fight back. Soon she was thrashing in her captor's arms until he lifted her off her feet. With that Felicity threw back her head and heard a delightful crunch as her skull made contact with his nose.

He dropped her and started cursing, most likely clutching his broken nose. Felicity started crawling away trying and failing to get to her feet. Her assailant shook himself soon enough and grabbed for her legs and twisted her around.

Looking up at her assailant she wasn’t surprised to see Ray.

He quickly straddled her waist and wrapped his hands around her neck. Panic finally started setting in as Felicity tried unsuccessfully to get him off. In no time at all she was gasping for air as Ray leaned forward to whisper in her ear, “I knew you’d look beautiful with my hands around your neck.” Then there was another gun shot.

Roy had finally got his wits around him and shot at Ray on top of her. However he was still a little out of it and his shot went slightly wide and instead of shooting him in the chest or the head he shot him in the arm.

Ray howled in pain and quickly shot off of her and started running.

Roy started after him at the same time that the elevator doors opened and Sara, Digg, and Oliver made their way out. Roy yelled at Sara as he ran after Ray to check on her as she still laid on the ground trying to catch the breath Ray had stolen from her. Sara and Oliver both ran to her side as Diggle chased after Ray along with Roy.

Felicity had turned hysterical once she’d sighted Oliver. As soon as he’d seen her on the ground he’d rushed to her side lifting her off the hard floor and pulling her into his arms. Sara tried to check her for injuries the best she could while Oliver held on to her but eventually gave up and instead stood with her gun out looking for any threats.

Oliver had tried to calm her down but she couldn’t stop shaking and crying and yelling that she was sorry. Eventually what had calmed her down was the feel of Oliver’s tears on her neck where his head was resting. Soon enough she stopped yelling and just held onto him for dear life as Sara finally convinced Oliver to get in the car with Felicity. He lifted her easily in his arms and they got in the car while Sara got in the driver’s seat and drove them straight to the mansion.

Apparently Sara had called in a red alert in the car because when they got home there were Bratva foot soldiers everywhere and Robert, Moira, and Thea were waiting anxiously in the living room. Sara had to rip Oliver from her side to get him to lead his men and talk to Roy and Digg who had made it back 10 minutes after them having lost Ray even with him bleeding from his arm.

Thea had taken over checking Felicity out. As a daughter of the Bratva, Thea had an unfortunately extensive knowledge of medicine. She had sat Felicity down and checked her over and deemed her unscathed except for the hand like bruises around her neck.

Oliver had reappeared soon after that and had swept her upstairs where he spent the night apologizing for not coming home last night, for making her cry, for her getting hurt, and anything else he could think of. Eventually they were both crying again and Felicity wrapped herself around him and begged him to make her forget what had happened tonight.

Out of all their fights, that one should have been their biggest one. It had caused Felicity grief and it had made Olive not come home to her one night. The fight probably would have lasted longer if Ray hadn’t attacked her. But to Felicity their biggest fight happened five months into their marriage. And it wasn’t even really a fight. It was more Felicity freaking out and Oliver having to diffuse her freakout. But it did cause them not to have sex for a bit so Felicity counted it.

She’d been having dinner with just Moira and Thea, something she made sure to do once a week, when Moira had innocently asked when she would get to become a grandmother. Thea had quickly jumped on the bandwagon and started talking about how she’d love to be an aunt and Felicity had felt flabbergasted. Realistically she knew the answer should be “in the next two years” but she’d been blocking that small part of Slade Wilson’s demands. She wasn’t ready to have a baby and she doubted that she’d be ready in a year and a half.

Right there at the dinner table was were the realization that she didn’t have a choice came through. She'd laughed off Moira’s question but inside she was in turmoil. She’d finished dinner soon after that and had made her way to bed where she knew Oliver was waiting for her.

Once in their bedroom she’d made her way to their closet and slipped on pajamas, not even noticing which ones she put on and slipped in bed while Oliver finished sending some emails. She was still in her head when she felt Oliver begin to slip his arms around her and Felicity panicked. She’d wiggled out of his grasp and said she didn’t feel good and if they could just 'not' tonight. Oliver had seemed surprised and concerned but she’d waved off his concern and told him she probably just needed a night of uninterrupted sleep. He’d unwillingly agreed and for the second time in their marriage Felicity fell asleep without the feel of Olivier around her.

The next morning she was up before Oliver and somehow, magically, got ready without ever waking him and went to work.

Later that day she begged out of their scheduled lunch and did her best to avoid him for as long as she could. Of course it didn't’ last very long. Oliver cornered her once Felicity came home from an impromptu business dinner. She’d made it at the last minute in the hope that Oliver would be asleep when she got home but of course he wasn’t.

When she closed the door to their bedroom Oliver was on her quickly, demanding to know what was wrong. Wanting to know if it was Ray again or if something else had happened. He looked so worried and even a little angry so of course that’s when she’d blurted it out.

“I’m not ready to get pregnant!” She had yelled into his face.

Oliver had froze and then his eyes had shifted to her stomach. “Are you saying you’re…”

“NO! I’m saying I’m not ready for that to happen and people are asking and then I remembered that Slade said I had to get pregnant in the first two years of our marriage and half of a year is already gone Oliver! We have a year and a half to get pregnant and I don’t want to!” At that point she had started to hyperventilate and tears had begun to fall down her cheeks.

“Whoa, you need to breath дорогая .” He had led her to their bed and sat her down while Oliver kneeled before her taking her hands and helped her regulate her breath. Once she calmed down Oliver had asked her a very important question, “Are you saying you never want to have children?”

It was Felicity;s turn to freeze that time. Did she not want children? She had to admit that the thought of a little Oliver clone was cute. But she’d never considered children. Hell, she’d never considered marriage but here she was: married.

“I...I don’t know.” She'd whispered back trying to get a read on Oliver’s face but he was doing his best interpretation of statue.

“Well I do. I’ve always wanted kids so I could do it right. Not that my parents were horrible but they weren’t there for a lot of my childhood. I was raised by the brotherhood and they were great but they’re not a father and a mother. And you Felicity would make the most amazing mother. I can picture a little girl with my eyes running around the garden and a little boy with your brain begging me to take him fishing. I’ve never been able to see them before I met you. Now I can. You’ve told me that when we got married Thea told you we were inevitable...well I’m telling you us having kids is also inevitable. You saying you don’t know just means you never gave it a lot of thought. If you didn’t want them you’d just say no.” He said all this in a whispered tone still holding her hands letting his thumbs caress her knuckles.

“Ok,” she'd whispered back. He was so passionate it was hard for her not to get swept up in that beautiful future however... “But that doesn’t mean I want them now Oliver. I only just turned 21 a few weeks ago... God I love you, I do, but I hate feeling like decisions are being taken away from me and this one is! This is my body and I have no say on when someone is supposed to take residence in there for 9 months!” She could feel tears once more beginning to fall.

“Just answer me this дорогая, do you want to have children with me? Doesn’t matter when. Just do you?” Oliver asked.

“Yes.” She'd whispered back as she gently took one of her hands out of his grasp and cupped his face.

“Then don’t think about the when. It might not even happen right away. Bodies are tricky things and you’d have to come off the pill anyway. I want a baby and you want a baby and the when did get taken away from us but not the why. The why is because I love you and you love me. We’re still doing what we want, it’s just at an escalated timeline. That’s how you have to think about it or you’ll never be happy.” Oliver whispered back as he turned his head towards her hand and laid a small kiss on her wrist.

“So are you saying I should stop taking my pill?” Felicity had asked feeling panic begin to set in again.

“I don’t want to scare you дорогая but yes. It’s ultimately up to you. I don’t control you and I’ll never try but I think you should. We won’t do anything different besides that though. If you don’t fall pregnant in the two year timeline that Slade gave...well it wasn’t for lack of trying on our part. Or if you decide to stop taking your pill tonight we might find out you’re pregnant tomorrow. That’s the beauty of this Felicity. Even though there’s a timeline it’s a finicky one at best because while Slade may think he can control your body he can’t. The only thing you need to worry about is, do you want a baby?” Oliver had asked as he slowly got up from the floor and slowly pushed her down on their bed and slowly crawled above her until she was caged on all sides by him.

Felicity had looked up at the beautiful man she got to call her husband and not for the first time she thanked her lucky stars that he’d come into her life. Looking in his eyes she hadn't felt fear, she'd felt love and even a little excitement.

Sliding her legs up to his waist and wrapping her arms around his shoulders she brought him closer. Close enough that his chest was pressed against hers and her mouth was right next to his ear as she had whispered, “Yes.”

That night Felicity didn’t take her pill. And the next night when she saw it still sitting there in it’s spot in the wheel of her contraception she took the whole thing and threw it in the trash. And maybe Oliver saw it in there. And maybe he got a little excited at the prospect of making a baby with her. And maybe he jumped her and they had sex the entire night only stopping for small naps every now and then. And maybe that’s why now, six months into her marriage, Felicity is peeing on a pregnancy stick. Maybe that’s why she’s peeing on her 6th pregnancy stick because all the others have read the same and she needs to be super positive.

Because there’s no maybe about it, that night definitely had something to do with her peeing on her sixth test while five others sat beside her all reading the same: pregnant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> дорогая-my darling

**Author's Note:**

> маленькая птица- Little bird


End file.
